Renegade
by Another Lone Ranger
Summary: Soujiro, who has been finding his way for 2 years, finds himself in a very difficult position with a very unusual girl determinded to help him. Complete
1. The Boy and the River

Welcome to my Kenshin Fic! It's my first, please be gentle!  
  
Chapter 1: The Boy and the River  
  
The water was cold. That was the first thought that raced through his mind when he broke the surface of the river and started to sink. Then his head was bursting full of thoughts, commands, reactions, and emotions. His body was screaming at him to kick, to paddle, to get back to the surface. His brain, however, was telling him to just sink and let the pain envelope him. It wasn't like anyone was waiting for him to come home. He didn't even have a home to go to. He had no one, nothing but the wooden sword he had carried at his side that now was broken into three peices, floating along the surface above him. He watched the wood on the surface, the light from the bridge twinkling across the broken mirror from underneath the water. Suspended in mid-river, the events of the past day flooded threw his mind.  
  
~It had started as a usual day. It was coming to the the end of spring, but the mornings were still cold and the nights were still clinging to winter. Soujiro had been camping in the long stretch of forest that lay between one town and the next for over two weeks now. Most of his food was gone and the river provided all his water. There was little to do except keep walking and hope he made it to the next village.   
  
Roughing it was not what fazed him. He had been camping out most of the time for the past two years, since he began his new life. Interacting with so many people was still new to him, and he liked it on his own about as much as any teenager could. It was the lack of people that left him puzzled. The road he traveled was supposed to be the only way to reach the next town, yet he had not seen a single person on his way. It left him curious as to just what lay ahead of him.   
  
It was when he began nearing the town that the trouble started. He could hear the voices of people echoing from down the mountainside, and he saw the smoke of fires rising in the air. Soujiro smiled as he headed further toward the town. He could restock some supplies and maybe even sleep in a bed for the night. Then he could be on the move again. Not stay, never stay. He was now a wanderer, with no home to call his own. It was a simple existance, but one he had taken in order to find the answers he so desperately wanted.   
  
Soujiro was set upon by a group of shifty looking fellows. Men dressed in the apparal of bandits, yet walking freely in the open as if they owned the mountainside. Four appraoched Sojiro from the front, six more from behind. They all had a sword at their hips and dark looks on their faces. Normally such petty advasaries wouldn't have made much of a difference to him at all, but Soujiro wanted no trouble today, just wanted to get to the town.  
  
"And where are you heading, boy?" one of the men from in front of him called out. Soujiro kept his head down, not making eye contact was an important rule.  
  
"I'm just heading to the town," he commented casually, moving as if to bypass the men blocking his way.   
  
"I'm afraid that outsiders are no longer welcome in this town," one from behind him snarled. So they were townsfolk, dressed and armed like bandits. It was strange, a nagging thought that bit down in the back of his mind. Here in the mountain regions, village guardians were inforced to keep bandits from attacking. Seeing as that the villages out here are so far from the cities, the government police could do little to help them. Townsfolk relied on their own strength. But still, the way these men were dressed, and the hostility they had towards a single, basically-unarmed traveler puzzled him. 'Not my business,' he thought, continuing forward.  
  
"All I need is some food and then I'll be gone," Soujiro continued, still trying to get to the town just around the next bend on his path. The four men in front blocked his path, making it impossible to go through them. Then the six from behind circled him, making it impossible to turn away as well.  
  
"We can't let people like you wander freely in and out of our town at will. We'll use you as an example to all other little boys who try and get past us." Soujiro rolled his eyes inwardly, sighing. Why did they always have to do it that hard way? In the flash of an eye, the wooden sword which had been at his side was in his hands and he made a sweep at the men converging on him. Soujiro was mildly surprised when all but three men dodged his attack. These were not simple townsfolk, they had at least basic swordsmanship training.  
  
"We are not just some band of drunken thugs," one of the other men said from behind him, drawing a sword.  
  
"We are the guardians of the Renko Village," hissed a third. Soujiro was unafraid of these men. There was no reason to fear them at all. He could handle a small band of trained men, even if they were armed with real swords and outnumbered him. They came at him slowly, menacingly. As if they wanted to intimidate them. Little did they know that Soujiro was completely unintimidated in the slightest. In fact, he even had the audacity to smile at them as they advanced. Each one took the set up, and each time Soujiro knocked them down. It was like a cat was toying with a group of mice.  
  
Soujiro was trying not to hurt these men. Obviously they were only doing their jobs, protecting their village. But he meant no harm, all he wanted was a little food! Finally his pateince wore thin and he attacked harder, knocking five down for the count. The other five looked even more upset, attacking more furociously. This only made Soujiro quicker at knocking them out of the way. His speed gradually increased as he moved in a circluar patteren, forcing back all of his opponents with simple thrusts of a wooden instrument. Becasue his sword wasn't metal, he couldn't do much harm to the men. But he had left a few marks that would be sorely hurting in the morning.   
  
That was when the rules changed. A man without a sword, who hadn't been involved with the battle at all, jumped free of the bushes next to the roadside and leveled a rifle at the young swordsman. Soujiro froze for a moment, contemplating what to do. He decided to rush the gunman, but just as he made that move, a loud noise from behind him rang out. There was a flash of pressure in his side, then a rush of undiluted pain. Soujiro staggered, the bullethole in his side bleeding freely. He pressed a hand to his side, making to rush the one who had shot when the second gunman from before shot. There was another moment of pressure, then an even more agonizing pain that shot threw his shoulder and numbed his sword arm. It forced him to stagger a few steps back. The wooden weapon fell from his grasp to the ground beside him. Then Soujiro fell to his knees, clutching at the bleeding wounds.  
  
Somehow, then men he had defeated with his sword were on their feet again and they hefted Soujiro to his feet and carried him down a small path into the forest, away from the village. Soujrio was too numb to resist. He could no longer feel his right arm, and his abdomen was on fire. His once-blue clothes were stained crimson as they carried his limp body.  
  
After a few moments, they came to a clearing in the forest and Soujiro saw the river he had been following alongside for over a week now. It was a run-off that came down from the lush mountains to pool in a huge lake at the bottom. He had passed the lake weeks ago on his trek up the mountains. He also saw a sturdy bridge that reached from one side of the river to the other. The men carrying him began to cross the river, but stopped in the center.  
  
"Let this serve as an example to all those who dare to threaten our people!" someone yelled, the shouts of agreement went up through all the others. Soujiro was roughly hefted into the air, then tossed over the railing of the bridge where he plummeted down into the rocky riverbed below.~  
  
The water was cold, it knawed at the painful, bleeding wounds in his shoulder and side. All he wanted was welcome the freezing dark, to let the pain flow away with his blood that tinted the water red. The water above him was dancing crystals as he was pulled further and further away from it. The air in his lungs was nearly gone. Soujiro knew if he didn't try to make for the surface, he would die. But the river took that decision from him. He was caught by the current and thrown against a large rock. Breath and strength was knocked out of his body and the black flooded him, wanted or not. He was going to die.  
  
Reviews are welcome and appreciated! Please let me know what you think!  
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ 


	2. Surprising Discovery

Chapter 2: Surprising Discovery  
  
She saw the village guardians tramping through the forest, lifting something in the air like it was a prize deer freshly killed. But she saw a flash of blue and the smell of blood was not that of venison. For a second, pity thoughts ran through her mind, but those were quickly shaken off as she hid for cover on the other side of the bridge. The fact that the men began crossing her bridge did little to comfort her. 'Oh why did I come to the bridge to train today,' she mentally yelled at herself. 'I should have simply stayed in the garden!' She didn't want to think about what would happen if all those men found her, alone, wandering near the river in boy's clothing and carrying a sword. Of course, everyone in the village thought she was insane, the majority of the male population also had a few thoughts about her as well. She knew that her skills were not so great so that she could take on twelve men alone.   
  
She huddled further into her bush as she watched the village guardians lift the wounded and possibly dead man they were carrying into the air and toss him over the side of the bridge. Her face froze with horror at the sight. The village guardians had become more stern and protective since the fall, but this was insanity! No outsiders allowed in the village would destroy it! Not to mention that poor traveler who, if he had been alive, would now be dead for certain. The fall from the bridge was far and the water was still icy from the mountain snow run-off. And the large rocks littering the river bed didn't kill him, then the bears that roamed this area would.  
  
The barbaric sight sent chills to her very soul and she had to clamp a clammy hand over her mouth to keep from squeaking in fear. The men let out animalistic roars of happiness and triumph, swinging their weapons in the air and cheering. They didn't seem to notice that they just killed someone. The village guardians then paraded back to their posts on the road. Only once they were gone for a few minutes did she exit her hiding place, and once she was out, she turned and ran down the path.  
  
"I was so lucky," she panted as she ran down the steep path that branched away from the small road. It was a small track that she made herself. It led directly into the very center of her gardens and down the garden path was her home. And that was where she was running, hopping over clumps of grass and down wooden steps easily in the men's clothing she wore instead of a normal kimono.   
  
When she reached the small house at the end of the path, the house on a small hill that was covered in dozens of wildflowers, she froze. There was a shape moving around by the door way. Carefully, stealthily, she crept along the bush line of the garden so as not to be seen. But once she caught a good glance at the shape by the door, she let out an annoyed breath and stocked forward.  
  
"Ryu, what are you doing here?" she called out, stalking forward. A young man swung around to face her and broke into a huge grin. His eyes were huge and brown. His short, orderly black hair fell into his face in a boyish way. He was lean but broad, suggesting an excellent warrior in him.   
  
"There you are Akio! I was wondering..." he trailed off as he took in her appearance, and the presence of the sword in her hand. "You were doing it again, weren't you?" he asked haughtily. His hands went to his hips and he looked at her angrily. "I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to do this anymore! Dressing like a boy, running all over the forest, playing with swords. You could get hurt, Akio."  
  
"And I thought I told you to go away! You have no right to tell me to do anything. I can do as I please Ryu Mori, now go home!" Akio walked right past him, pushing him aside with the hilt of her sword, and entering the front door of her home. Ryu followed her inside.  
  
"Akio, listen to reason--"  
  
"You listen to me Ryu. The women of this town learned long ago that those who don't weild swords can still die upon them. My grandmother told me to learn the sword if I wanted to. I want to, so I am. Get out of my house, you're not welcome here." Akio stormed into the small room, placing her sheath sword on a small rack on the wall, then heading into the kitchen.  
  
"Akio, you are a woman. It's time you started acting like one, and stopped trying to be a boy." Akio bristled, but she didn't face him as he pursued her. "Akio! You live alone in this little hovel when you should live in the village."  
  
"The village doesn't want me, they've made that abundantly clear." There was a bitter, warning tone in her words, but Ryu didn't heed the warning.  
  
"Akio, you could stay with my family. We'd have you." She whirled on him, eyes blazing and her face set in a dark way. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him out of her kitchen and out of her entry room until they stood outside once more. Once sure he was out of her house, she walked back up and slammed the door behind him. "Akio!" he called, banging on the door.  
  
"Ryu, go away!" she yelled.   
  
"Fine, I'll see you at the restaurant." Akio rolled her eyes and let out a very frustrated sigh, but she looked out the window and watched the retreating figure. Then next breath from her mouth was out of relief. Threw all his annoying, bossy habits, Akio had to give credit to Ryu's persistence. No matter how many times she threw him out, he always came back. But they were no longer kids and having him hanging around her house all the time was getting irritating. Especially since he had taken up the job of ordering her life around to fit his wishes, not that she did anything he said.   
  
"Baka," she muttered under her breath as she huffed outside again to cool down. Akio stomped down a different path through her gardens, one that led down to the river's edge. The river was her favorite place to go when she was upset or angry, the water soothed her nerves. The flashes of the village guardians throwing that poor traveler into the river was still fresh in her mind as her pace slowed to a near-crawl. "Maybe I shouldn't go down there..." she mused aloud. But then she raised her head in defiance. "Why not?"  
  
Akio walked briskly down the path, lacing her fingers together behind her head and threw her short dark hair. She had never grown it long like the women of the village did. One summer when she was just a child, Akio had gotten into an accident with a few swordsmen-in-training hacked off a good portion of her hair. Her grandmother had cut it to her chin and since then, Akio has never kept it longer. She was a very pretty girl, if one took the time to look past the layer of dirt that was always on her. Her green eyes were exotic, a feature gained from a father she ha never known. But Akio was not your average girl from the Renko Village. She lived alone and had since she the death of her beloved grandmother. Akio dressed like a man, spoke like a man, and acted like a man. It made her feel safer in a world where women were treated poorly. In her younger days it was easy to pass for a boy. But now that she was older, and her body and face more mature, it was as plain as day she was female. Still, she never shed the habit.  
  
Her paces slowed when she reached the end of her gravel path and feet touched down on the sandy banks of the river. The rushing water splashed and gurgled, sending an immediate calm over her as she took a few deep breaths. If there was anything in this world that she loved at all, it was the river. She was about to take a few more steps down the bank when she stopped cold, one foot partially raised in mid-stride.  
  
Laying half on the bank of the river was what appeared to be a body. The river had washed him on to the shore, his lower half still submerged. The first thought that came to her mind was that it had to be the body of the traveler that the guardians threw from the bridge earlier.   
  
"Poor man," she said allowed, relaxing her body as she inched closer to him. "I could dig him a grave in the cemetery today." Just as she was a few feet from him, Akio could have sworn that she saw his side move. "Trick of the light," she muttered, but then she saw it again. She rushed to his side, falling to her knees and turning him over. Akio pressed her head to his chest, and sure enough, she heard the stable tell-tale beating of his heart. She jerked back and looked at him. "You're alive!" she squeaked, but he wasn't conscious to hear her.  
  
He looked young, no older then her. In this sleep-like state he looked as innocent as a child. His brown hair was shaggy and wet and his skin was covered in sand. Akio felt the tingling of pity, the same feelings she got when she'd find a hurt animal in the forest. Akio had a soft spot for hurt animals. Whenever she found one, she'd take it home and care for it until it was well. She began to feel the same sensation when looking at this boy who had been thrown into the river. It wasn't until inspecting him more closely that she saw the two bullet holes in his body. Souvenirs from the village guardians. Her anger rose. In that split second, Akio made a decision to take care of this young man until he was well, or until he died. Either way, she would care for him.  
  
With cool fingers she wiped back some of his sopping hair out of his face. Green eyes troubled as she then looked down at the dangerous wound in his shoulder. That one could me bound and cleaned quickly. He'd not be able to use the arm for at least a few weeks, but he'd not die from that one. The one in his side was far more serious. She'd have to get the bullet out, and soon.   
  
Akio got to her feet and tried to puzzle out how exactly she was going to carry a man roughly her size back up to her house, alone. She grinned suddenly as an idea struck her. "I'll be right back, don't worry," she said to the wounded stranger as she bounded up the garden path back toward her house, but when she got there, she veered to the left and kept running. She came to a small, primitively made pen that sheltered in a large sized buck.  
  
"Takeda, come here," Akio called. The young deer looked up from his grazing and walked over to the gate of the pen. Akio had rescued the deer when he had been a fawn. His mother had been killed by hunters and he had been wounded. There was still a large scar on his left flank from where she had tried so hard to heal him. He had survived, but was unable to return to the wild because a permanent limp. It was barely noticeable, but it slowed him down just enough to where he's fall to predators. Akio constructed the pen for him and named him Takeda. The only think in the world she loved more then the river. "I have a job for you my beautiful boy," she cooed, running her hands down the deer's neck. He nuzzled her shoulder and she slipped the rope-made rein around his muzzle and neck, then led him toward the river.   
  
Takeda was young and strong, strong enough to carry Akio on his back for limited amounts of time. She prayed he could help her get the young man to her house. When they reached his side, Akio commanded the deer to stand still as she pulled the wounded stranger up. Leaning his weight on herself, Akio got him standing, then beckoned Takeda to her side. The deer sniffed the stranger with distaste, but didn't buck as Akio laid him across the deer's back. Takeda made it very clear you Akio that he did not like having this person on him, but because he was well behaved and very loyal to the mistress he owed his life to, he consented to her wishes.   
  
"It's ok, love," Akio assured the beloved deer. She led him by the rope leader, murmuring words of encouragement the entire way in a soothing, low voice. When they made it up to the small house, Akio even led the deer right through the front door and into the entry room and deeper into the house. Tekeda did not like this either, but the low coaxing of his mistress made him go further.   
  
"Alright Takeda, stop right here." The deer stopped in Akio's bedroom, the small alcove-like room off to the side of the house. With the deer, slightly shaking from the weight of a rider and the anxiety of the surroundings, standing near her bed, she was able to lower the rider down. Akio stretched him out on his back so that she could easily get at the two wounds. Before she tended to her new patient, she led Takeda back to his pen and let him go. "Thank you so much Takeda, you are the most loyal and beautiful deer. The mightiest buck I've ever seen." Whether the deer understood flattery or not remained a mystery, but Akio loved to pour the words over him. But then she was drawn back to her home, and the other boy awaiting her attention.  
  
Okay, here's chapter two. I hope everyone enjoys it! Love and Peace!  
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ 


	3. The Healer

Chapter 3: The Healer  
  
"Okay now," Akio said to herself as she looked over the still soaking wet young man. "First things first," she said dryly, taking hold of his shirt. "Please forgive my lack of modesty here." She began to undress him from the waist up, carefully peeling the wet clothes off the bleeding wounds. The one in his side was particularly vicious looking and Akio winced. She heard him suck in a harsh breath when the pressure of his clothes was taken off of the wounds. She took that as a good sign. "I should dry you off, so you don't get sick on top of wounded."   
  
Akio raced through her small house, grabbed an armful of blankets, then two rolls of bandages, and the small bottle of alcohol to clean out the wound. She paused to unload that batch of things before heading into the kitchen and fetching a small carving knife and a pair of tongs. She had performed this procedure on several animals before. Random deer, a few horses, and even a wolf puppy, all shot by hap-hazard hunters and left to die until she had come along. She'd never done it on a human. She wasn't a doctor, but she had to try. There was no other way.  
  
She grasped the small knife in her fingers firmly, gazing at the gaping hole in his side. All the rest of him was covered in warm blankets to keep him from risk of other infection. She was glad he was unconscious for the pain of this would be unbearable had he been awake. Akio cut the skin around the hole on each side, widening the wound enough so that she grabbed the tongs in her bloody hands and wrenched the bullet out. Blood pooled out and dripped to the floor, staining her hands and clothes.   
  
There! Had the bullet stayed in, it could have poisoned his blood. Now for the other one in his shoulder. Akio doused the side wound with alcohol, hearing him whimper in his sleep. Her heart went out to him, it really did. Once the wound was cleaned, she put pressure to stop the bleeding as much as she could, then wrapped it snuggly with one of the rolls of bandages.   
  
The worst wound was tended, it was time for the most troublesome. Akio shifted her position and the blankets. He was already bleeding through the cloth she had put over it. He was losing so much blood! If she didn't work fast he'd die whether he was tended or not from the blood loss. She worked fast, cutting deftly through the skin on his shoulder and pulling at the bullet. She prayed it wasn't lodged in the bone, if it was there was no guarantee she'd ever get it out. It seemed that the Gods were smiling on her for once in her life as she found the bullet had passed into only muscle and tissue, but not the bone. Akio retrieved the bullet and began the cleaning process. Then she bandaged him, and prayed the bleeding would stop, or at the very least, lessen enough to save his life.  
  
She ran the back of her hand over her forehead, sweating slightly from the concentration. She didn't realize that she left a bloody streak across her face until a few minutes later, when she went to clean off her hands and change into clean clothes. First she made sure her patient was covered fully once more, and resting as comfortably as possible. Then Akio filled a bucket with water from the well outside of her house and dumped all the contents over her head before pulling up another bucket to bring inside the house.   
  
She worked at the restaurant tonight. Akio sighed to herself, looking into her bedroom at the still unconscious patient lying still. Only the steady rise and fall of his chest signaling he was still alive. She smiled her herself as she looked at him, proud of herself.   
  
Her hair was damp, clinging to her neck and dripping down her back, but she had a contented feeling in her chest. She knew that she had just saved a human life. Although she didn't think that a human life was worth more then an animal's life, but it was a different feeling. She changed into her uniform kimono and readied herself for work.   
  
Akio was only allowed one job in the Renko Village, she was a serving woman at the town's restaurant. When she was dressed she took a long drink of water from the bucket she brought in from the well, then she filled a cup and brought it to her patient. Akio, kneeling next to him and leaning his head forward gently, tilted the cup so that a small and steady stream of water ran into his mouth. He coughed once, sending some of the liquid to dribble down his chin.  
  
"I know you've probably seen enough water to last you a lifetime, but you have to drink if you want to get better," she laughed a little to herself, using the same soothing tone with him as she used with her animals. Once she was satisfied that he had drank enough water, Akio got back up to put the cup in the kitchen again. "Thinking of it, I don't think it's such a great idea for me to work tonight," she mused aloud. "What if you wake up and don't know where you are? Or you go into shock or need help? No, I think I'll stay home tonight." She nodded at her decision. "But I have to run to town to tell them I'm unwell." She looked torn, going to the door and looking back in at the sleeping young man. "I'll return in a few minutes!" Akio called before closing the door and running to the bridge and over toward the village.  
  
She knew where to go to avoid a run-in with the guardians. A few random people on the street gave her dirty looks in passing, or ignored her completely. When she reached the restaurant, she took a deep breath and put forward her best wounded facade.   
  
Akio was aware of all the eyes on her a she walked in. Ryu and his friends were at a back table. He attempted to wave but she shrugged him off with a look of illness. Approaching her employer was the key. Although her lady boss was a kind woman for the most part, she looked down upon Akio.  
  
"Lady Suika?" Akio said submissively. The tall and pretty woman turned with a raised eyebrow, looking down on her employee. "I am feeling very ill this evening, would it be possible for me to work tomorrow night instead to make up for taking tonight to rest?" Suika, a shrewd woman with as much cunning as there were stars in the sky, could see right through anyone telling a lie to get out of work. Her level hazel eyes looked right into Akio's soul, to see what she was really up to. Much to the restaurant owner's surprise, she saw no hints of laziness or dishonestly in her eyes. Akio simply needed to take the night off.  
  
"Fine then," Suika said off-handedly. "Just make sure you work hard tomorrow." Akio bowed.  
  
"Yes ma'am." Then she turned and fled from the restaurant, still feigning illness until she was outside and darting home as fast as her legs could carry her.  
  
"Suika! What happened?" one of the regular customers said with a disdainful glance at the door Akio had just exited. "She was about as sick as I am pretty." This got a round of 'that's the picture of heath' from the others. Suika grinned slowly, like a cat over a prized kill. "Why'd you let her off?"  
  
"She's a hard worker, that little bastard. She wasn't playing sick to run off with her lad or nothing, she had something to do. Can't for the life of me know what, but it must be something big. She's never left work before."  
  
"Never?" another patron asked in disbelief.  
  
"Never," Suika confirmed. "I've given her work at this restaurant since she was a child. I respected her grandmother," she said with a fierce glare at a snickering costumer. "And as long as I've owned this restaurant, that girl has never missed a time to work." There was silence from the people for a few seconds, then the restaurant was alive once more.  
  
Akio hated wearing the kimono that she was forced to wear at the restaurant. She longed for the freedom of pants. With a weary sigh, Akio crossed the bridge and shivered when she looked down. 'That poor boy', she thought to herself. She saw the drop he had taken and the large, jagged rocks were visible even in the darkening light. It was a miracle that he was alive. 'But he won't be if I don't get home soon!' she yelled at herself mental and started running down the path for home again, as fast as the constraining kimono would allow.   
  
"Curse the day I was born a woman," she raged when she stomped into the house, throwing off the kimono and once more donning her usually men's attire. She was so deep into her gender fuming that she forgot a man was actually in the room where she was changing. At least he was unconscious, but still. Akio shook her head at herself. 'Is there no end to my idiocy?'  
  
Mentally abusing herself, Akio went out to the well to fill her water bucket once more, and saw a visitor approaching her house. It took all of her will power and restraint to keep from sighing out loud. She opted for ignoring him.  
  
"Akio? Are you alright? I saw you leave the restaurant and Suika said you were sick," Ryu said running up to her. He took a quick look up and down of her, noticing she was once again minus a kimono.  
  
"I'm not feeling up to this right now Ryu," she said, and truth be told she wasn't. She was tired and had to take care of her charge.   
  
"Let me help you then," he said, grabbing the bucket from her hands and walking into the house ahead of her to put it in the kitchen. Akio didn't fight him at first, but trailed after, ready to throw him out again. "As for you," he said once the water was inside. He turned and placed both hands on the back of her shoulders, pushing her towards her bedroom. "Go lay down." Akio froze, digging her heels into the floor.  
  
"Ryu, what are you doing? Go home, I can take care of myself!" Akio desperately tried to keep her voice down, while innocently pulling Ryu into the kitchen. She couldn't let him find the unconscious young man asleep on her bed for more reasons then just the fact that there was a man asleep on her bed. Ryu was a member of the village guardians. She was sure the watch that inflicted the wounds on the traveler would tell the other members of the guardians about him. If Ryu saw the self-same traveler in her house...it would be bad news for someone who was already on thin ice. But it was a lucky break that Ryu was the only person who ever came to her house, so all Akio had to do was get him away.  
  
"Why don't you ever let me help take care of you?" Ryu pouted, trying to put his arms around her. Akio dodged this easily, glaring at him.  
  
"Ryu, get out. My head hurts and I don't want to deal with you."  
  
"Let me help you," he pleaded. Akio sighed, holding her head with one hand and pointing to the door with the other.  
  
"Get out of my house Ryu."  
  
"Akio, one of these days you have to realize that you are a woman, and that you'll need a man to take care of you once in a while." That made her snap. Akio was entirely self-sufficient and had been since she was eight years old. Nearly ten years.   
  
"Ryu!" she yelled, pushing him with all of her strength. "Get Out!" He flew threw the open door to get a face full of dirt. He got to his feet and turned to see a glaring Akio standing on her front step, hands on her hips. She was the picture of feminine rage. "You are no longer welcome in this home. You can not walk about freely in here any more. If you disobey this, I will make you pay." He glared at her, angrily brushing the dirt off of his clothes.   
  
"Fine then Akio," he warned. "But you'll be begging me to come back when you're left here all alone again! You just wait and see." Then he turned on his heel and stomped off into the darkness. Akio seethed, her fists clenched shakingly at her side. The desire to silence him was great, but her resolve was stronger now then it had been in her youth. And there were more important things to do then kill Ryu.   
  
Growling slightly, she stalked back inside and fetched a cup of water to feed to her charge. Like before, he coughed up half of it before the water was able to be drunk. She gave him a second cup since he seemed to be dehydrating. Once he was done drinking, Akio went and found herself something to eat. She chewed idly, thinking about what she was going to do with this man if and when he woke up. Food would have to wait until he was conscious, and that didn't look like it would happen tonight. But after he did wake up, she knew he'd be bed ridden for at least a week!  
  
Not that it was a problem of him being run out of town. If she could keep Ryu from finding him, no one else would. He'd have to stay out of sight until he was well again. Then, if everything went well, she'd send him on his way. Akio rubbed her temples and smiled. "How do I always get myself into these kinds of things?" she muttered to the heavens. There was no answer, not that she expected one. Akio grew tired after a while, too much stress in one day.   
  
With a yawn, she changed the dressing on his bandages, they were clotted with blood, but the steady flow had stopped. It was then that she decided the stitch the wound together. It would encourage the skin to close faster, now that the bleeding had stopped. Akio lit an extra lamp nearby for better light and fetch a needle and thread. Her patient slept soundly as she sewed his skin together carefully. Her stitches were tiny and even. First the wound on his side was sealed and bandaged but then she had to lean over him to work on his shoulder. She could feel his breath on her neck and it made all her hair stand on end. Akio was not used to being this close to humans, let alone men.   
  
When she was finally done, she leaned back from her stitched and re-bandaged charge and sighed. She drank deeply from her water bucket, then gave him some more. That was when Akio fully noticed that he was sleeping on her bed…and blinked. 'Guess the floor is the way to go,' she thought, grabbing a blanket for herself and curling up on the floor of her bedroom. The rhythm of the wounded traveler's breathing helped her fall into a calm sleep. She slept through the entire night for the first time in seven years.  
  
Okay, well here we have it folks! Chapter 3 of Renegade. I love Soujiro, I think he's wicked cool, hence why I'm writing this fic. I want to thank all those who have reviewed so far. I'll get to individual shout-outs next chapter. Expect this to be a pretty short story. I expect the sequel to be longer then this one. It's just something I started writing because I got bored waiting for my beta reader to get back to me, lol. Remember to review! Thanks for reading, my love for all of you is like Ramen!  
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ 


	4. The Awakening

Thanks to all who've reveiwed. I love you all! Please remembered to check out my Inuyasha stories too! Enjoy chappie 4!  
  
Chapter 4: The Awakening  
  
He was floating. Soujiro never knew a time in his life when he didn't have some colossal weight that was holding him to the ground. But now, gravity had no hold. It wasn't important anymore. He was floating freely through space, warm and cool, feeling safe and at peace. Nothing he did or failed to do in the past could hurt him here. No one from the past could get him here. This was his own place.   
  
Soujiro vaguely remembered the pain in his shoulder and side. A once unbearable, consuming anguish faded into a dull throb. He remembered the feeling of poking and prodding, and burning. He remembered the feel of cool fingers on his face, brushing away the hair that had fallen into his eyes. The feeling of those fingers helping him lean forward to drink the water that revitalized him. Soujiro didn't remember the words, but he could remember the shadow of a voice. It had been soft and comforting, something the likes of which he had never known. But the soothing darkness would always carry him away when he was on the verge of opening his eyes.  
  
The first thing he truly remembered was the feel of the sunlight on his eyelids. Soujiro opened his eyes, blinking a few times until they focused, then he winced when he tried to move his right arm. Pain shot through him, every fiber of his being screaming out in agony at such a simple movement. He coughed while trying to hold back a cry, and found he was able to move his left arm without pain. That one was okay, as arms go. He reached up to rub his eyelids, willing himself into the waking world once more, trying to shake off that horrible nightmare of some creation.  
  
"Am I dead?" he wondered aloud.  
  
"Not yet," said a voice from nearby, though it sounded somewhat muffled. Like it was from another room. It was the first time that Soujiro looked around, noticing that he was not alone. And noticing that he was laying on a bed, in a room, in a house. The room itself was unadorned apart from a small ink painting of a deer on a far wall. It was simple, open and airy, but cozy at the same time. Soujiro noticed a folded blanket on the floor next to the bed.   
  
"Where am I?" he asked the voice. He looked around the small room, trying to locate the source of the voice who had spoken to him before.  
  
"You're in my house," was the reply. "We're across the bridge, on the opposite side of the river, from Renko Village." Soujiro froze. Renko village? The village those guardians were from? The ones who tried to kill him? "Don't worry," the voice continued, as if reading his thoughts. "No one can hurt you while you're here."  
  
It was then that Soujiro noticed that it was a female voice. Soujiro also now saw the owner of the voice, a young woman who had just entered the room carrying with her a cup and some food. She was dressed strangely in his eyes, dressed in clothes similar to his own, only hers were a deep green. The food was placed on the floor and the girl kneeled next to the bed. Yes, this was definitely a girl and one that was no older then himself. She was rather pretty, in an innocent way. Her prettiest feature was her eyes, large and emerald green. Her face was framed by a fall of jet-black hair that reached her chin. It gave her an angelic appearance. When she smiled at him, Soujiro knew that he would do anything she asked him to.  
  
She eased her hand gently under his head, helping him to lean forward far enough so that she assisted him in drinking the cup of water she had brought. "Drink," she commanded. Soujiro did, and greedily, until every drop was gone. "Do you want some more?" she asked when he was finished.  
  
"I would truly appreciate it miss," he responded. The girl helped him lay gently back down, then left to fetch more water. The process was repeated and when she was finished, she leaned back from the bed and eased the blanket that covered his upper torso off of him. Soujiro was a little surprised to see that he was without a shirt, but it didn't seem to bother her. She was too busy peeling back the bandaging that covered his side wound. "What happened?" Soujiro asked her, trying to distract himself from the fact that there was a girl touching his bare chest, even if it was for medicinal purposes.   
  
"I was hoping you might tell me," she said to him as she looked over the wound. It was looking good, but to be cautious, she splashed a little alcohol in a cloth and wiped it gently. Did that ever burn! Soujiro clenched his teeth, fists clenching, trying to bite back the hiss of pain.   
  
"I'm sorry," she apologized as she rewrapped it. "I have to keep it clean or you'll end up worse then you already are. And I have to do the shoulder now."   
  
"I know," he said, letting out a deep breath when she finished and moved to lean over his shoulder. "But it still stings." The girl smiled apologetically as she swabbed off the shoulder wound. He couldn't help wincing as she bandaged him freshly there too. Soujiro was surprised, however, to feel her cool fingers brushing back the hair from his face in a comforting gesture.  
  
"Do you remember what happened with the guardians?" she asked.  
  
"You knew the guardians attacked me?" he asked, trying to hide his surprise.  
  
She blushed a little. "I saw them throw you into the river from the bridge. I had been nearby, but when they came, they were in a total frenzy. It looked like they would have attacked anything, man or beast. I hid until they left. She stood up, brushing off her hands as she explained. "I really didn't think you'd survive the fall. The fall is long and the rocks on the river floor are deadly." Soujiro shivered involuntarily. Somehow, someway, he was still alive. Somehow, someway, he was still living by whatever fate, or deity, or lucky star that watched over him. "I found you on the river bank," she continued, drawing him from his thoughts. "You had been washed ashore and I saw that you were just barely alive. I knew I couldn't just leave you there, so I brought you back to my house."  
  
She made the comment as if it were the most logical, natural thing in the world. But her eyes held something different. She was frightened, frightened of him just enough to be on guard. Weary of the situation she had found herself in. Maybe she wasn't so innocent, but she sure as hell was smart. Her eyes told him volumes about how she knew far more then she was letting on.  
  
"I was just going to the village to restock supplies," Soujiro said, looking away to the ceiling. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was minding my own business when these men just appeared and told me to leave. I resisted. I admit it wasn't the smartest of actions, but I thought so at the time. Two men just materialized from the bushes and shot me from different sides. I didn't have time to react."  
  
The girl nodded knowingly. "That would be Kymo and Hiroshi. They can't fight with a sword like men, so they hide in the trees with their rifles to shoot at anything causing unrest." She paused, then continued. "You must be a very good swordsman." There was a touch of envy in her voice and a look of admiration in her eyes.  
  
"How did you know I'm a swordsman?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
The girl smiled, the fear gone from her eyes. She looked eager for conversation, and although he was reluctant to admit it, so was Soujiro. "Well, the riflemen don't shoot at anyone unless the swordsmen guardians are having a difficult time subduing someone. That and these." She reached out a hand and captured on of his in her own. The girl ran a finger down the small scars on his palm, the calluses that form from many years of intensive work with a sword. "You have the hands of a swordsman."  
  
"And how might you know that?" Soujiro asked, but smiling none the less. She held up her own hands and smiled shyly. Soujiro clearly saw the small scars and calluses on her hands like on his own, the evidence of her skill with a blade. "A female swordsman, your kind are rare."  
  
"Yes, but only because we have to be able to fight better then men," she replied cheerfully. Then she caught herself. "You should sleep. We'll have time to talk later, when you're not in need of healing so much. I don't think you'll be moving for a while."  
  
"But won't those guardians be looking for me?" Soujiro couldn't deny the urge to sleep much longer, but he didn't want the girl to stop talking. The sound of her voice gave him something to hang on to. But even this short time of conversation was draining his energy.  
  
"They all think you're dead," she said softly. She tucked the blanket around him once more, something to encourage him to sleep. "You know , there are many myths about the river you were thrown into." Her voice had taken on a mysterious, story-teller tone that captivated his attention. "They say the river has the power to judge the human soul. When one is given to the river, by force, choice, or accident, the river will judge you. If it judges your soul to be damned, then the river takes you away and you will never be found again. But if it judges you worthy, then it will give you deliverance to a savior."  
  
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, covering a yawn. He gave her a sleepy smile.   
  
"Because the river didn't take your life. I've heard that myth a thousand times from the village and as long as I've lived here, there has only been one other person who was cast into the river and was survived. Everyone was taken down the mountain and never seen again."  
  
"Who was it? Who was the one who survived?"  
  
"Me," she said with a slow smile. She looked thoughtfully down at him, as if only just remembering something. "What's your name?"  
  
"Soujiro," he yawned. "Seta Soujiro." His eyelids were getting heavier. He couldn't force back the desire to sleep any longer, but he had to know one more thing before exhaustion claimed him. "What's your name?"  
  
"Akio," she replied. A cool hand began to stroke his forehead, lulling him into sleep. "I'm Akio." Then sleep took him away in to a dark, dreamless, and healing sleep.  
  
Okay, here we are of chapter four. I love Soujiro, he's just so....chibi! LOL. Please remember to review, because then I will love you. And everyone remember and never forget that the love of Jesse the Wolf Demon is like Ramen...just damn good.  
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ 


	5. Unknown: Akio's Past

Readers--I want to thank all of you who have been reading and reviewing my fic! I know it's not really that great, but hey, it's just the prelude really. This part of the story leads into the other one, so I'm trying to rap this out and get it up as quick as I can. For all of my Inuyasha readers, chapter 1 of Tainted Blood has been sent to my beta and Chapter 12 of Surviving a City is under way. Expect me to be a little late because of this whole Hurricane Isabel fiasco. My computer will probably be off limits until the weekend--ack! Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 5: Unknown: Akio's Past  
  
The next time Soujiro opened his eyes, it was quiet in the house, and darker. He tried to sit up, once again forgetting the injury in his side, and groaned at the pain the simple tightening of his abdominal muscles inspired. The wounds were still too fresh, he wouldn't be able to move without help. He looked around for signs of his nurse...Akio, but there was no one around. From the looks of the doorway, the rest of the house was dark.   
  
Soujiro lifted his arm and it was then that he realized that there was a piece of paper clutched in his good hand. As gracefully as someone could unfold a paper with one hand, he stretched out the page and read the small, sloppy scrawl that held his name.  
  
--Soujiro, I didn't want to wake you so I left this note. I have a job in the village and I needed to go out for a few hours. Don't worry, I'll be back before it gets to late. I left you some food and water if you get hungry or thirsty. I'll be back as soon as I can, try not to move too much! --Akio--  
  
"Oh," he said aloud. It only just occurred to him that the girl who saved his life lived alone. When he had talked to her that morning, it had never really hit him that she was a young woman all alone here. Now he thought it was strange for her to be out here without another person. He made a mental note to ask her once she returned. Right now, the smell of food beside him claimed his attention.   
  
Soujiro felt around with his good hand until it made contact with a fluffy substance. He craned his neck to see that it was some bread. He drooled like a dog as he stretched to grab the inviting meal. Once he had it, he began to eat like a starving animal, only then realizing how hungry he was. It was his first meal in two days. When he was done eating everything she had left for him, Soujiro still felt hungry, but he was a lot better off then before. Next was the water, which he guzzled down thirstily, relishing in the crisp, cold taste. When he was done satisfying his cravings for food and water, he collapsed against the pillow again. Even such small actions had tired him out. "Guess I should sleep a little more," he mused. Soujiro was asleep almost immediately.  
  
Akio had spent the rest of her day doing idle chores around the house. She nervously watched over Soujiro for changes in his condition until the point of fretting over everything. Finally, she forced herself to dress in her uniform kimono and walked to the restaurant. Akio couldn't shake the feeling in her though, she was calm and serene for the first time in quite a while. She was so happy that he was going to be alright. Soujiro had been conscious and alert, even remembering everything that happened up until the fall. It was a very good sign. Akio was also shocked and happy to see how nice he had begun to heal.  
  
"But swordsmen are like that," she commented quietly to herself. "They're resiliant; they heal fast." She had wanted to wake him before she left to let him know she would be gone, but thought against it. He would be much better off getting as much sleep as he could. It would help him heal. So she left him a little note, written poorly on a scrap of paper. Akio sighed to herself, she had never been much of a writer. Neither had her grandmother, the one who taught her to read and write.  
  
"Akio, take this to table six," Suika ordered, handing a dish of rice to the daydreaming girl. Akio bowed her head respectfully and hurried to carry out the wish.   
  
"I don't know why you put up with such incompetence, Suika," one of the patrons muttered loud enough to make sure Akio heard him. It was seconded by a few other mumbles. Akio kept her head down, relaxing her temper and hiding her fists under her apron. If she had a sword with her, she'd show the old coot incompetence!  
  
"Quiet, ya old fools!" Suika snapped. "So the girl's a little off today. Considering that she was ill yesterday, I'll let it slide. You aren't exactly spring chickens yourselves!" Akio hid her grateful smile, knowing it would only annoy her employer. Suika was sparing in her kindness, but she was fond of Akio in her own way. Akio attempted to spend the rest of her shift at the restaurant doing her job and not daydreaming about the boy that was in her house.  
  
It was pretty much a wasted effort. The second time she was brought out of her thoughts, it was by Ryu and his friends. "Hey Akio, bring your sweet self over here," jeered a drunken Kymo. He, Ryu, and another young man had just gotten off their shift of guardianship duty. Kymo had already down a pitcher of sake alone, and Akio knew to expect trouble. She blushed slightly from anger as she remembered that he was a rifleman, one of the ones who shot Soujiro. But she pasted a smile on her face as she brought food over to them.  
  
"Good evening," she said politely.  
  
"Hi Akio," Ryu said with a sheepish smile. He was trying to get back on her good side already.  
  
"Hey Akio, why don't you stay out with us tonight?" Kymo offered with a suggestive smile. She didn't like the lustful look he was giving her, but she kept her composure. "Everyone knows you fancy yourself a man, why not play with a real one when you get off?"  
  
"Well, when you see one, please tell me," Akio said sweetly, going back to her work. It was a bad decision on her part, but she wouldn't take that kind of insult. It took Kymo a few minutes to realize that she had just insulted him, but by then she had moved to another table. In a sake-induced rage, Kymo leapt to his feet, stumbling a little, and advanced on her. Ryu got in between them.   
  
"Kymo, calm down," he warned.  
  
"That little bastard thinks she can talk to me like that?" he roared, trying to get around Ryu. "Then she's got another thing coming!"  
  
"You started it, you drunken buffoon!" Akio snapped, losing her temper. "You've no right to make such insults at me."  
  
"Come off that high horse of your Akio," Kymo scoffed. "You're just like that tramp mother of yours. I was just making the offer she would've taken."  
  
Akio stared at him blankly for a moment, the whole restaurant going silent. When she spoke, her voice was so cold it sent a chill to every person within earshot to the very bone. "Kymo, you can say whatever you want to say about me." She calmly walked up to him, lightly moving Ryu aside. He went without a fight, knowing the look on her face all to well. "But you will say nothing about my mother!" Akio slapped him across the face with all her strength. The echo of that blow rang through the silent restaurant. Akio turned on her heel and walked to the door. "Mistress Suika, I apologize, but I have to leave early tonight." No one stopped her as she walked out the door, walked down the path to the bridge, then broke into a run. Her flight was fast to get across the river and back to the home that was her comfort. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't fight the angry tears that coursed down her cheeks, sealing her shame.  
  
When Tekeda's pen came into view, she ran to his fence. She panted and choked back sobs as she called to her buck. He raised his head from where he had been grazing and trotted over to her. Akio flung her arms around his neck, allowing the bitter tears to fall from her eyes and drip down his sleek fur. Tekeda leaned down to nuzzle the back of her head, sensing his mistress's unhappiness.   
  
"They hate me so much," she whispered to the night. "They hate me for something that I didn't do. For something I don't even remember." Akio stroked her hands along Tekeda's neck and back, drawing comfort from his presence. With a sigh, she pulled back from the deer and wiped the tears from her eyes with her knuckles. With a few loving pats on his snout, Akio headed back to the house.   
  
Akio moved slowly into the house, closing the door behind her and calling into the darkness. "Soujiro, I'm back." When she reached her room, she saw that he was sleeping again. She also noticed that the food she left for him was gone and the water cup was laying on its side. Akio smiled, cleaning up the dishes and preparing him something else to eat. When she entered the room again, dark brown eyes were on her. "Did you sleep well?"  
  
"Yes," Soujiro replied. He took in her appearance. "You're dressed like a girl now," he commented. Akio looked down at herself and shrugged.  
  
"This is my uniform. As soon as I'm done with you, I can get back into normal clothes. Speaking of which, I'll have to find a change fore you. Your shirt has blood stains and bullet holes now. But I guess you're about the same size as me, I mean, I wear bigger sizes then when I am anyway." Soujiro looked up at her and smiled a little. Akio felt a faint blush stain her cheeks under his eyes. "I'm insane, didn't you know?" she informed him.  
  
"No you aren't," Soujiro told her. Akio started at his words. Those three little words that gave the reassurance that she was not, in fact, as crazy as everyone thought she was. She blinked at him, her emerald eyes unintentionally filling with tears once more. Akio held them back, breaking eye contact. She couldn't read him, she didn't know what he thought. She thought it better to take care of him first.  
  
"Do you want me to help you up?" she asked, busying herself with something so she wouldn't have to look at him until she had herself under control.   
  
"That would be nice," Soujiro said with a smile. Akio helped him lean forward, and then get to his feet. He still needed to lean on her, an arm slung across her shoulders. He felt lighter now, which brought to Akio's mind the age old question about what exactly made people heavy when they were knocked out.   
  
Akio led him outside so that he could obey nature's call. The night air was chilly, especially when he was still shirtless, covered only by the bandages on his wounds. He was very much aware that he was without shirt, and that he was leaning on a girl. She didn't seem to mind. Her arm was around his waist for support, the other keeping his arm around her shoulders. Soujiro saw that she was only a few inches shorter then he was, and strong despite her petite frame. Subconsciously, he hugged himself closer to her. Trying to ward of the cold by staying close to her warm body. Akio flashed him a quick smile.  
  
Business taken care of, Akio helped him back inside and into her bedroom. Soujiro maneuvered himself so that he was still sitting up, but at an angle so that there was no pain in his side or shoulder. Akio disappeared to the kitchen and returned with a plate of food for herself, handing him his own. She sat down cross-legged on the floor, relaxing from her rather bad day at work.  
  
They ate in silence for a little while, until Soujiro worked up the nerve to ask her what had been bothering him since she made her little comment. "Excuse me, Miss Akio?"  
  
"Please," she said evenly. "Just call me Akio."  
  
"Akio," Soujiro repeated awkwardly. He wasn't used to being on such an informal level with anyone. "If you don't mind my asking, why exactly did you tell me that you're insane?" He sipped his water calmly, gauging her reaction. Akio relaxed and snorted a chuckle.  
  
"Everyone in Renko village thinks I'm out of my mind because of the way I act and dress. It's not everyday you find a girl like me." She looked over at him with a feral grin. "I'm a diamond in the rough, to quote my grandmother." Soujiro simply blinked at her. It was quite an emotional switch. Suddenly, he began to wonder if those tears he saw forming in her eyes before were just something of his imagination. A trick of the light. But no, he saw that the easy grin on her lips didn't reach her eyes. And he saw them again, the tears pooling in her emerald eyes, each glittering like a green jewel in the faint light.   
  
"What's the matter?" Soujiro asked, surprising himself by the sudden depth of his concern.  
  
"Bad day at work," she whispered, looking away again.   
  
"What happened?" he pressed, not sure why. Akio wanted to refuse. It wasn't his business anyway. He was just some boy who had gotten by the paranoid villagers and fell into her care. She owed him nothing, she didn't even know him! And yet, the silence she had kept for so long made the whole story start pouring out. "Maybe,' she thought to herself. 'It's just been too long since I had a talk with someone who can reply.'  
  
"Kymo, the ass who shot you, was making rather suggestive remarks to me at the restaurant where I work. He's always saying things to me or about me. Most people do. I don't normally care, it's just something that they do, but he said words against my mother." Akio paused, her entire small frame shaking in anger. "They can say all they want of me. I don't care what any of those stupid villagers think. But no one is allowed to speak ill of my mother." Soujiro watched in silence. Questions he had no right to think or ask played around in his mind.  
  
"Akio, why do you live alone?" It seemed to be the simplest, most innocent of his questions.  
  
"Why do you travel alone?" she countered. Soujiro was stuck at an impass. If he revealed too much of his past, surely Akio would call those guardians to her home to finish what they started. "I'll answer if you do," she whispered softly.  
  
"No one travels with me because I have no one to travel with," Soujiro said simply. "I don't have any family or friends anymore." Akio looked up at him, meeting his eyes. Her green eyes seemed to see through all the shells and seals he put over himself, see right into his very soul and read all the black, disgusting sins he had ever committed. Without meaning or wanting it to, an admission of guilt rose in his mouth. He wanted to tell her about everything from his family to Shishio, to the duel with Himura that changed his life. He wanted to divulge to this girl every deed that weighed down his soul and kept him awake at night. But he pushed it back. Soujiro made his decision. He would stay here until he could move on his own, no more, no less. Then he'd head back down the mountain and way from this girl. "Two years ago, I became a wanderer and since then, I've traveled alone." The ending seemed fitting.  
  
Akio nodded, her eyes soft. "It must be lonely."  
  
"Isn't it lonely here? We had a deal, you have to tell me why you live alone." Soujiro smiled, shaking aside the horrible memories that threatened to surface.  
  
Akio looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm never really lonely in this house. I guess you could say I'm a loner. I don't like it in the village because they ridicule me. This house is my refuge, my haven. I may be alone here, apart from my pet deer Tekeda, but it holds lots of memories."  
  
"Have you always lives alone?" Soujiro inquired, interested.  
  
"No," her voice was soft, almost sad. Then she sighed. "It's a long story."  
  
"I've got time," Soujiro assured her.  
  
"Well, I'll start from the beginning, with my grandmother. She was born and raised in this Renko village. She was a doctor, which is how I knew to take care of you. Grandmother was a very good doctor." Akio pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them to her as she spoke. "Our village has always been very prosperous, until recent years. We're famous throughout Japan for our metal craft. My grandfather was a great swordsmith, from a long line of swordsmiths. He always wanted a son to raise as a swordsmith, so you can imagine his disappointment when his only child was a daughter."  
  
Soujiro shifted uncomfortably. Not because of the story, but because his wounds had begun hurting again. Akio smiled and helped him lay back down. "Continue," Soujiro encouraged as she began to change his bandaging again.  
  
"After my grandfather died, my grandmother and mother no longer wanted to live in the village, so they built this house across the river. My mother was grown by then, and she was bothered by many suitors from the village. My mother was very beautiful, and every man wanted to have her. That was when the revolution really took hold. People from all over the country came to our town for swords and weapons of our making, from both sides of the war. That was how my mother met and fell in love with my father." There was a wistful look on Akio's face and she turned to smile at Soujiro. "My father was a soldier, you see. He and my mother were very much in love, but then he had to leave and get back to his army. He promised to come back, but he never did. My mother never told anyone his name, not even my grandmother. All anyone ever knew was that one day, he was gone, and my mother was pregnant with me."  
  
"So..." Soujiro trailed off in surprise. He couldn't bring himself to form the word.  
  
"I'm a bastard," she said casually. Akio had heard and been called that word so many times over so many years that it wasn't a hurtful term any longer. "It's why I don't have a family name like you do. I don't know what family I belong to. My father never claimed me. I doubt he even knew I existed. That's why the villagers look down on me. They think I'm disgusting because my mother went with an outsider instead of a man from the village." Akio half-smiled, but a few tears trailed down her face. Soujiro swallowed hard. He made her cry by asking too many questions. He pressed too much. He made her cry.  
  
"When I was three, my mother took her own life by the blade of the last sword my grandfather ever forged. It's the sword I use, that hangs in my front room." Akio wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, trying to act casual despite the sadness in her voice. "I lived in this house with my grandmother. She raised me until her own death when I was younger."  
  
Soujiro looked up at her levely, weighing his words. He was trying to come up with a nonchalant reply, nothing to give away the inner turmoil her story had erupted in him. "Why do you stay here? If the villagers don't like you and all." Another question. Soujiro couldn't explain it, the strange desire he had to understand this girl. He wanted to know her, to find out exactly what possessed her to save his life.   
  
"Because this is my home. Village or not, as long as this house stands, I have no where else to go. I don't know anyone outside the village except for a few travelers. But," she said as an afterthought, standing up so she could arch her back. "I've always wanted to head down the mountain and try to find my father."  
  
"But you don't know his name," Soujiro said rationally. "How could you find him?" Akio faced him and smiled while stretching her arms.  
  
"I have a few clues, but it's only a dream, Soujiro. I doubt I'll ever leave this mountain." He kept his thoughts to himself, opting to settle back in for sleep.   
  
"Akio, one more question," he said with his eyes closed.  
  
"You are very demanding Soujiro!" Akio laughed, laying her blanket down for sleep.   
  
"Why did you tell me all of this? You could have refused. I mean, this obviously causes you pain and you barely know me." Akio was quiet so long he didn't think she would answer.   
  
"I like things out in the open. Maybe you'll tell me more about yourself tomorrow." Then he felt her tucking him in. Soujiro's eyes shot open when she placed a kiss on his forehead. "Sleep," she commanded.  
  
The faintest of blushes appeared on Soujiro's cheeks. "And you call me demanding," he muttered. Akio laughed, and it was the last sound he heard as sleep claimed him for the night.  
  
Thanks so much for all the reviews! Please remember to review again, the whole reason the little buttons are there, lol. Oh! And the whole bed/futon thing....*sigh* I just say bed because I'm ignorant to all the terminology. But thanks for tell me!   
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ 


	6. Renko Village

Chapter 6: Renko Village  
  
Akio woke up when the sky was just beginning to lighten. She stretched out on the floor luxuriously, then got to her feet, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles. With a glance at her bed, she saw that Soujiro was still asleep and smiled a little to herself. It was very unlike her to have opened up like that to anyone. It was very much unlike her to talk to anyone at all, apart from angry words exchanged with Ryu or other villagers. "You dug yourself into a good hole now, Akio," she said to herself with a sigh. She padded out to the well, barefoot, and refilled her bucket. "Now, if he decides to tell you nothing about himself, you have no leverage at all. That is, considering he'll still talk to you at all knowing what you are."  
  
'He's not like that,' part of her argued. 'He wasn't disgusted by you, he didn't look at you any different then before.'   
  
"How can you say that?" she muttered to her inner voice. "You don't even know him! You just spilled out the horror that is your life to a boy you found on the riverbank! Then, baka that you are Akio, you start convincing yourself that he may still look at you with the same eyes as a person who thought you were real."  
  
'Soujiro isn't some man from the village. He'll accept you.'  
  
"No, I will not do that! I will not trust him...I will not do this to myself."  
  
'So you want to be alone?' that little voice continued to nag. Akio was becoming furious with herself.  
  
"If it comes to that, I would rather be alone then hurt." She lifted the bucket and stomped back into the house before her inner voice could reply with all the secret hopes and wishes that were swirling in her heart. With resolve in place, Akio vowed not to get too close to this boy.   
  
As she made breakfast, Akio though about the rest of the day. She was not working at the restaurant, which was a good thing considering last night. Akio sighed to herself, thinking about what had passed at the restaurant the night before. Kymo was totally out of line with the comment, but she had been out of line as well with her own insult. She realized that she had been subconsciously looking for a way to strike at him. She had been furious because of what he had done to Soujiro. Maybe taking him in had been a mistake. Akio was beginning to think that Soujiro would be more trouble then she needed.  
  
The nightmares had returned. He had been stupid to think that after the last two nights of dreamless, healing sleep, the nightmares that had haunted his sleep every night for two years would have suddenly vanished. The smell of death hung in the air around him, choking his lungs. All he could feel was the bite of a sword and the grip of a hilt. All he could see was red, blood red, crimson waves that rolled over him, drowning him in an icy river.   
  
Some small part of Seta Soujiro was awakened, but his body was paralyzed from the dream. He couldn't move, or think, or speak. All he could do was stare with unblinking eyes at something that was in his mind alone. He couldn't feel the tears that were running from the corner of his eyes, the tears that he cried whenever he though of those memories of a past he had tried so hard to forget. His private hell, horrors that only he could see and know.  
  
Soujiro didn't hear Akio enter the room. He didn't hear her calling his name, or the concern in her voice. He never felt her grasp his shoulder and try to shake him back to reality. "I'm really sorry," she told him, even though he couldn't hear it, then she punched him in the side. Pain exploded throughout his body.  
  
"Ahhh-ck..." he bit back a few choice words that would have been a scream as he shot into a sitting position and clutched at his side. "What...did...you...do?" he asked between breaths.  
  
"You went into shock," she explained, patting him on the back and giving him an apologetic smile. "I had to get your mind back to the present. Pain is a very good motivator." She shoved a cup of water into his hands. "Drink."  
  
"Ow Akio," he whined before downing the water in one gulp. "Did you have to do 'that'?"  
  
She thought a second. "No!" she said cheerfully, turning toward a small closet in the corner of the room. "I could have slapped you across the face...or broke your finger...or poked your bad shoulder. Punching you in the side was the first thing that came to my head. I panicked."  
  
"You're a sadistic one, do you know that?" he grumped, still holding his side. Akio laughed, the same sweet, quick-silver sound he had fallen asleep to. It was like the sound of a sword being pulled from a sheath, almost musical.   
  
"Sadistic? Probably," she mused with a smile. Then she walked back over to him with some clothes in her arms. "Here, I got a change of clothes for you. I sure hope you can dress with one arm." She kept her voice light, threading a hand through her short hair, but there was a blush creeping up her neck.   
  
Soujiro smiled. She was cute when she was shy. There was a little smile on her face and the blush made her look prettier then before. Her green eyes watched him, sparkling. But Soujiro never noticed things like that. He was a wanderer, a loner, a man who lived his life by the blade of a sword. Women were the farthest things from his mind. And yet...and yet this girl was the only thing on his mind.  
  
'It's only because you're grateful,' that cynical voice inside him said. 'She saved your worthless life and you're thankful. Don't read more into it then that.' Soujiro swallowed, grasping hold of those thoughts.  
  
"I'm sure I can manage," he assured her.   
  
"Well, if you need help getting the shirt over your shoulder, just call me. I'll be right outside the house." She pointed to the food she brought and to the bucket of water that was next to it. "Drink your fill, the rest you can use to wash with." With another blushing smile, she left Soujiro to his thoughts.   
  
"Now, how do I go about doing this?" he mused. His first thought was to step out of the lower half of fabric that covered his body. It was stiff, caked and wreaking with dried blood. Soujiro knew Akio would prefer if he would change out of those dirty clothes, but she was too shy to do it herself. He listened, making sure she wasn't going to be entering the room at an inopportune moment before stepping out of the clothes.   
  
Akio left the room, furious with herself for blushing at such a simple conversation as the changing of his clothes. She had been changing his bandages on his bare chest for two days now. She had been touching a man's bare chest for crying out loud! Not to mention when he had been leaning on her when she brought him outside! Just the thought of that brought the blush back. She sighed, disgusted, and paused only long enough to grab her sword of the rack in the front room before storming outside. "I am such a...such a....GIRL!"  
  
A good morning of solid training and self-abuse would help her get her senses back. No more blushing just because Soujiro was semi-attractive and half-naked, sleeping in her bed, just inside her house, and had been with her for two completely un-chaperoned days. There was not a reason in the world to feel shy or self-conscious. Not a reason in the world to feel what she was feeling. It was like the first time she touched a sword when she was a little girl. The adrenaline of doing something she knew she wasn't supposed to do, but did it anyway. The feeling of excitement and danger. But there was also the hesitant fear, the doubt. And of course, that strange feeling of protectiveness, of wanting to be at his side.  
  
"Oh Akio, don't do this," she willed herself as she started her training anew. Tekeda lifted his head from grazing to watch his mistress from the fence of his pen. She was swinging around that shiny stick again. He put his head back down and continued to eat happily. Akio became so engulfed in her workout, that she didn't here the door slide open behind her.   
  
Soujiro had managed to stay on his feet without support while changing his clothes, but walking had been an achievement. He was able to lean on the wall or other objects as he hobbled his way to the door. He would not be reduced to calling for help like an invalid. Except for the fact that he was almost an invalid. When he got outside, he happily collapsed on the front step to catch his breath and hold his still-aching side. The pain was dull and throbbing, it was something he could live with. He had succeeded in changing the lower half of his clothes, and washing himself pretty good too. But he couldn't get the shirt over his wounded shoulder. For that, he'd need Akio's help. With all the pride he could muster, he had went looking for her.  
  
He found the girl outside, engaged in a rather intense training session. Soujiro assessed her movements. She had skill, and a load of raw talent and potential at her fingertips, just begging for a teacher to come along and harness it. Her body moved in a quick, graceful manner. Akio moved fluidly, like a cat. She was fast, but not as fast as others he had faced, not as fast as himself. But still, for a novice without proper instruction, she was surprisingly good. It made him wonder where exactly she learned to fight.  
  
"You're very good," Soujiro said while watching her land a particularly difficult move with grace and ease. Akio, at the sound of his voice, lost her footing and promptly fell on her face. When she got to her feet, she was steaming in a scary way.  
  
"You should know better then the interrupt someone while they're training!" she snapped haughtily, pointing her sword at his head as she magically materialized in front of him. Soujiro only smiled.  
  
"I'm sorry Akio," he laughed without a touch of sincerity. "Call is revenge for your little healing trick this morning." Akio scoffed, but smiled in spite of herself.  
  
"You need help right?" she asked, brandishing her sword in the direction of the shirt tossed over his shoulder. She then flipped the sword and sheathed it. The scabbard had a strap attached to it so that it slung over her head and shoulder, and the scabbard itself was on her back. Sliding the sword back in, the hilt was in a perfect reach from her hand, but concealed over her shoulder.  
  
"Yes, unfortunately," he admitted sheepishly. Akio smiled, walking over to help him finish getting the shirt on. "Seems like a lot of work when you'll only strip me tonight to change my bandages." Akio blushed at his choice of words, but then her eyes widened.  
  
"Shimatta!" she yelped, slapping herself on the forehead. "I just remembered that I used the last of my bandages on you yesterday. I'll have to go into the village and buy more. You stay here Soujiro, I'll be back before you can say Tokyo!" With that she passed by him and went into the house. He heard a little shuffling around, then a silent pause, then she returned outside. There was something clutched in her hand and there was a pensive look on her face. "Um...how did you get out here?"  
  
Soujiro couldn't help by grin. "You just noticed that, did you?" Akio narrowed her eyes. "I leaned on the walls. My legs are functional, a little stiff, but still good. It's my upper body that's a mess." Akio nodded, running an absent hand through her hair.  
  
"Good, moving around on your own is a very good sign. I'm so happy you're healing so well Soujiro." She beamed him a smile and Soujiro couldn't think of a reply. In fact, he couldn't think of anything at all. "Okay, now that's your mobile, don't wander to far from the house. I'll get home quick. No one usually comes down this far, but if you see or hear anything that's not me, go inside." Nodding to herself, she passed him by and walked down to a make-shift pen a couple yards from the house. "Come here pretty boy," she called out.   
  
It was only then that Soujiro noticed something living was in the pen. It was a buck, a strong, young-looking deer. It trotted over to the fence and nuzzled Akio's outstretched hands. Soujiro watched as she opened a small gate and led the deer out, placing a rope leader around it's neck. Then she pulled a small woven basket from the fence. It looked like a saddle at first, but it had two sides that were open and large. She placed it on the deer's back. Akio paused to wave at Soujiro before leading the Takeda down the path that led to the bridge, then on the Renko Village.   
  
The village itself was still buzzing with the gossip of what happened last night at Suika's restaurant between Kymo, the upstanding citizen rifleman, and the town's favorite talked about person, Akio. It was all Akio's fault of course, for daring to stand against a superior person. But then again, if she didn't doing something stupid like that every once in a while, the town gossips would have nothing to say. When they caught sight of the whispered girl, they started talking incessantly.   
  
Akio held her head high, proudly and defiantly. Her green eyes blazed with beautiful defiance. Her hand stroked Tekeda's soft neck as they made their way into the village. The air was thick with the scents of fire and working metal ore. Akio loved the smell of the forges. They passed small forge-shops. Weapons hung in the windows and set on displays. It was a useless effort now that no outsiders were allowed entrance into the town. All that sustained them was the tradesmen who went down the mountain to sell their wares.   
  
Akio stopped Tekeda in front of a small supplies shop, tying his lead rope to a wooden pillar outside the door and walking inside. Everyone in the building went silent as she entered, all eyes were on her. Her emerald eyes quickly scanned the store of any signs of people she wished to avoid, but found none. There were only a few women and children here. They moved aside as she walked by. The woman grabbed their children to them, away from her, as if she were the carrier of some deadly contagious disease. Akio sighed inwardly, but she was used to it. She went about her shopping as if no one else was there.  
  
The purchases were taken to the small woman who ran the store, a collection of bandages and healing supplies. A few odds and ends. Akio acted like no one in the store was staring at her, not daring to touch what she had touched by let behind.   
  
"Oh, hello Akio," the store woman said with a slight smile. She counted the money Akio handed her, looking over the items the girl had bought. "You find another animal to take care of?"  
  
"Well, I found a stray and took him in," Akio answered. She took the things back outside to Tekeda and placed them in the basket on his back. She then untied his leader, and the two of them walked up the street to the restaurant.  
  
Now Suika was a strange woman. In her restaurant, only the freshest food was used. Anything that wasn't up to her high standards was cast out to the dogs, the scavengers, or the compost heaps. That is, unless Akio took her fill of what was still good. That was what she did then. She sifted through the food that was destined for refuse, and took what she needed for home. Akio loaded it into the basket on her buck, then lead him around to head back to her house. Or at least she would have, if Ryu hadn't stopped her.  
  
"Akio, listen, I'm sorry about last night. Kymo was drunk and completely out of line." Akio looked at the familiar young man before her and sighed. It wasn't that Akio hated him, she really didn't. Out of all the village, Ryu was the only one who offered the smallest amount of friendliness to her. It had been every since they were children, when Akio was ten and Ryu was fourteen.  
  
In the beginning, Ryu had been one of her tormenters. Like all the village children, they had delighted in torturing and beating Akio. It was one of the reasons she had begun learning the sword, to protect herself from bullies. One day, the village boys had taken it into their heads to throw Akio into the river to see if she would be taken away. So they ganged up on her, cornered her, and thrown her--like Soujiro--into the river. Only, it didn't work out like they wanted. The river had given her back, the current carrying her to a shallow edge when she was able to scurry out and run home. After then, after the River had delivered her, Ryu had fallen in love. He wanted to marry Akio, wanted her to be at his side. He had tried so hard to mold her into a proper woman, but it seemed that everything he told her to do, she'd do the exact opposite. It had been even worse when her grandmother had died.  
  
Akio smiled slightly. "Thank you Ryu," she said. She was acting meeker then she ever did. Ryu was on guard now. "I have to get home." She lead Tekeda around him and further down the path.  
  
"Can I walk with you?"  
  
"You shouldn't stand so close to me, people will talk," she commented idly, patting the flanks of her buck.   
  
"Akio, you know I don't care about that. There is nothing wrong with you."  
  
"They don't think so. You shouldn't think so. I have to go Ryu, I'll talk to you later." Without anything else, Akio swung on to Tekeda's back and he galloped off down the past like a shot, faster then Ryu could ever hope to catch. He sighed. 'I'll just have to catch up to her later,' he thought.  
  
Okay everyone, here is chapter 6! I want to thank everyone for reviewing and remind everyone to keep reviewing! Yes! Review, or I'll be on you like a hobo on a ham sandwich! *insane laughter* On a serious note, I want to suck up to you all and say, go read my Inuyasha fics! Chapter 12 of Surviving a City will be up as soon as my Beta is done. And Tainted Blood chapter 2 is up! Please read and review them! *begs* And now, for some shout outs!  
  
Pen D. Fox: Well, here for you, no more begging, okay? I love Soujiro too, isn't he the chibi-est? Thanks for reading!  
  
pruningshears: Wow, you are my favorite reviewer! I really love that you read all three of my fics, thanks so much for the reviews! Thanks for the bed info, but I like keep everything generalized if I can help it. Pocky rocks, but I still love Ramen (Inuyasha's influence). Yes, Soujiro is totally wicked, which is why I wanted to do a fic with him! Okay, as for Akio's father--yes, we know him, but he's not a main-main character. I'll hint as to his identity, but I won't come out and say who he is until the sequel, when we meet all the other Kenshin guys! And I know he doesn't have green eyes, but dammit! this is my fic and I'll make him have green eyes if I want to! LOL, thanks again for the reviews, I'm updating all my stories this weekend, if whyndancer gets back to me.  
  
CurlsofSerenity: I'm glad you liked my flashback mode, lol. And yes, the alternate perspectives is because my goal is to have Soujiro and Akio fall in love. *sigh* I'm a pathetic romantic, but you gotta love it.  
  
EEvee: Sorry, had to have him thrown in the river. For me, it's a must.   
  
Kenshin 44: I've seen one or two other Soujiro fics. Mine is weird though, lol. I just want Soujiro to be happy for once in his life, you know? And I love him! Not only is he a wicked swordsman, he's also got a lot of emotional scarring which makes him into a believable character. I hates those characters that have 'perfect lives'. All my characters have some kind of problems.  
  
Hoshii-Sama: Thanks, I try, lol. I'm happy you think my little fic is the best RK, I don't think so! I just wanted to do an RK fic with Soujiro, hehe. About the changing fonts thing, blarg, I haven't yet mastered that practice. Sorry if I confused anyone. Please feel free to read it as much as you want!  
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ Signing off for tonight! 


	7. Confessions

Chapter 7: Confessions  
  
As soon as she was out of Ryu's line of vision, Akio slowed Tekeda and vaulted off of him. She knew that riding him too fast for too long could aggravate his scars. Akio felt like crying for some reason. It was an unexplainable urge that caught her off guard with it's ferocity. "No," she yelled at herself. "I will not feel sorry for him. I will not cry." Tekeda butted her shoulder with his muzzle and she absently reached her arm to stroke his nose. But the fact remained. She was guilty for the way she had always treated Ryu. She was guilty and angry and sad.   
  
Akio, in all her years of life, had always vowed that she would never shed tears for the villagers who hated her. Never would she pity them, or sympathize with them. They hated her, they scorned her. They were the reason her mother had taken her life. They were the reason that her grandmother slowly faded away into nothingness. The Renko Village took her family, but they would not get her. Akio could not be broken, her spirit was stronger then anyone gave her credit for. But even though she was strong, the edges of her spirit were fraying. Her fragile pride and happiness hung by a silk thread that was, fiber-by-fiber, breaking apart. There was nothing to keep her whole, there was no one to keep her sane.  
  
She crossed the bridge silently, and reached her home without fanfare. A quick glance told her that Soujiro was back inside. Takeda was placed back in his pen and Akio carried his basket into her home.  
  
"That was quick," Soujiro said with a smile, greeting her in the kitchen. He had been able to limp his way in the house and found himself something to drink. Akio didn't respond. She placed the basket on the small table, retrieved the water bucket from her room, and went back outside to fill it again. Soujiro watched her, confused.  
  
No, he had not known Akio long at all, but he felt like he had known her for a while. Long enough to know that she was cheerful and good-natured. This wasn't Akio. She was always offering him a smile or at the very least, a scolding. But now she looked...tired. Soujiro watched her as she worked around the kitchen, unpacking the basket and putting food away. She didn't look at him, never spoke. She was silent and she looked so tired.  
  
"Akio, what's the matter?" he asked when he could take no more.  
  
Akio looked up at him, her face unreadable. "I ran into someone coming home from the village, that's all." Then she turned away from him. That hurt worse then when she had punched him in the side. Soujiro couldn't begin to explain how or why, it just did.  
  
"And this person from the village, was this a good or a bad meeting?"  
  
Akio looked at him from the corner of her eye, but didn't answer. Soujiro wouldn't drop it, he just had to know what had the power to disrupt her this badly. Akio was the kind of girl who rescued strangers from the river, the kind of girl who practiced with a bloodied sword. He watched her movements. Calculated, precise, graceful, but stiff. More practice then purpose. Akio was somewhere else now, somewhere very far away from him.  
  
"Here," she said suddenly, placing a plate of shrimp before him. Soujiro blinked from the food to her face. She was smiling slightly, but there was something glittering in her emerald eyes that told him to be wary. "Mistress Suika is a funny woman. She was going to throw away all of this good food just because it's a day old. I took it home with me. I really don't know what you like, but I hoped that it would be alright. Shrimp are my favorite." She picked one from the plate and popped it in her mouth absently. She was rambling and she knew it.  
  
"Are you sure that you're alright?" Soujiro questioned again. There was some kind of masked pain in her eyes that he didn't like.  
  
She didn't answer the question. Instead, she grabbed a shrimp and put it to his lips. "Don't bite," she commented as he automatically opened for her to place it in. Akio retracted her fingers, licking them absently as she got to her feet again. "Eat, I'll be around if you need anything." And then she left him once more to his thoughts.  
  
He was beginning to become annoyed with this habit of hers. She disappeared whenever she wanted to. Maybe he had given her too much credit before. She seemed like the kind of girl who ran from fights she couldn't win. For some perverse reason, he acted on the impulse of going after her. He pulled himself up, leaning his weight on the table, then the walls as he searched followed the direction she had gone.  
  
The was a room past the kitchen, a room he had not entered in her absence. It looked like another bedroom. But that really made no sense. If it was a bedroom, why didn't Akio sleep in there instead of on the floor of her room? But it was, in fact, a bedroom. There was a futon (ha! I used futon!) set up in the corner, along with a few other personal belongings. It was dark in the room, no candles or lanterns were lit. But even in the waning light of the day, he could make out Akio's shape hunched in the corner of the room.  
  
Her knees were hugged to her chest, head buried. Her entire frame shook with each muffled sob that escaped from her. Soujiro froze in the doorway, divided over his course of action. He had no right to see this. She wanted to be alone in her pain. He should respect that and simply walk away. He should let her have a few moments of privacy in her own hell. But then, that part of him that seemed to be calling the shots ever since he met this girl, that part told him to go to her. And since he'd been listening to that part of himself so far, Soujiro listened to it now.  
  
"Akio," he whispered, leaning against the doorframe. She flinched, looking up so fast that her hair whipped against her face. It gave her a wild, exotic look. Her emerald green eyes wide and wild with fear, raven hair falling over those eyes and her pale skin glowing softly in the dim light. It made the heart of Seta Soujiro lurch in a very painful way. "Akio what's wrong?"  
  
His tone was pleading and gentle. He moved slowly into the room, supporting himself as best as he could until he kneeled in front of her. Akio huddled back into the corner of the room as much as she could. She feared him being this close to her, and yet she didn't want him to leave, just not yet.   
  
"Ryu..." she whispered brokenly. "Why can't they just leave me alone? The village is so...so scared of me! I'm a leper to these people. But then he comes along and apologizes! I want to hate them. It would be so much easier if they would just let me hate them. Why can't...why can't I hate them?" she whispered. The last statement made that place in his heart twist painfully. She looked so small and fragile, so breakable, and at the same time she was the strongest person he had ever seen. Strong because she stayed. Not out of revenge or a desire to punish herself. She stayed and endured everything that those stupid, blind, brainless baka villagers could throw at her for the love of a memory.  
  
He reached out a hand and caught the freshest tear as it trailed down her cheek. Her skin was cold to the touch. She shivered, but didn't pull away. Her eyes closed, sending another wave of tears to slide down her face, but then she leaned into his hand. Akio needed the contact, she needed to comfort. For the first time in many years, she wasn't alone.   
  
"It's okay Akio," Soujiro said quietly. The words sounded hollow in his own ears. He could promise this girl nothing, nothing save comfort right now. He wanted to say that everything would work out, but he couldn't promise that. He wanted to say that no one could hurt her. He wanted to give her some kind of promise, some kind of guarantee that the pain that glowed in her beautiful eyes would disappear and not have to return. But he wasn't some naive kid. He knew how the world worked. Soujiro knew the pain well and knew that there was no way he could ever change what happened to her. But still...he was surprised by the depth of his desire to protect her. He wanted to protect her more then he wanted to draw breath. She had saved his life, took him in, showed him more kindness then anyone in his entire life. And seeing her in pain was unacceptable.  
  
"Soujiro." The only time he loved his name was when she said it. Her voice was soft and unsure, still broken from crying. Her eyes welled again, threatening to spill over. And suddenly, she pushed herself forward from the wall and wrapped her arms around his waist. The force nearly caused him to fall over, but he reflexes were still share and he kept his balance.   
  
"Akio...what are..." He stopped speaking when she started sobbing into his chest. There was a faint pain in his side from the added wait on him, but he ignored it. Soujiro was scared, a little. She was also shocked. No one had ever embraced him before. He had never been in the position to comfort another. But she was so cold and so small. She was shaking and clinging on to him like he was all that kept her from breaking into a million pieces. Soujiro finished his hesitation; he wrapped his good arm around her back and kept his other arm out to steady them.  
  
After a while, her crying stopped, but she still held on to him. "I'm sorry," she said softly. Her voice was still muffled against his chest, her face hidden from him by the fall of her hair. "I'm sorry that I'm so weak."  
  
"You aren't weak Akio," he spoke just as softly. "You are far from weak." He paused, searching for something to tell her. But other words, words that rang in his head floated to his lips. An old motto that he had once lived by, but no longer. Those words were false, and they wouldn't help the girl in his arms. "Everyone has moments they aren't proud of."  
  
"More like, everyone has a dark past," she whispered back. Soujiro froze. Why had she said that? Was she implying something, something about him?   
  
"What do you mean Akio?" he asked, pulling back just enough so that he could see her face. She looked up at him with level green eyes, even if they were red from her crying. She looked sad, and still so tired.   
  
"Will you tell me?" she asked quietly. "Will you tell me what happened that haunts your dreams?" He was shocked. One minute she was crying and scared, now she wanted to talk about his past? "You don't have to," she continued, sensing his unease and worry. "I know that you don't want to, or you don't trust me. But I hear you speak in your sleep sometimes. I heard you cry." Soujiro wanted to shrink back, wanted to get away from her before something happened he'd regret. "I wanted to ask, but I thought you'd tell me if you wanted to. And if you didn't, I could live with that. But then...then I told you so much about me. So much I shouldn't have." She pulled away suddenly, quickly pushing herself back into her corner.  
  
Her knuckles darted out, wiping the moisture from her face. "You sounded so lost when you dreamed, and your eyes are always so haunted. Did you know that they change color?" He simply looked at her, eyes wide and a little fearful. Akio couldn't explain why she kept talking. She needed to make him think about something else despite her behavior. How she hated herself just then, for throwing herself on him. She probably hurt him! She was just the most horrible thing alive. So she huddled in her corner, just talking away about how she had watched him sleep all those hours over the last few days.  
  
"They're dark brown most of the time, but when you're angry or sad, they turn gray. I noticed that when I woke you up this morning. They were so gray they looked blue, but then faded back to brown. And right now, they're turning gray. I must be making you very angry with me."  
  
"No, you aren't," he whispered. "I'm not angry...I'm just..."  
  
"Would you tell me?" she asked again. She moved closer, on all fours like a child. It was like she hadn't just been in his arms a moment ago, now she was fearful of getting too close. "I really need to know. Why don't you look at me like they do?" Soujiro blinked, totally floored now. Was this what she was worried about? This was why she was so scared? "Why don't you think I'm disgusting or low? Why didn't you push me away when I touched you? Why do you look at me like you're the bad one? Why are you afraid of 'me'?" All these questions fell on him like a ton of bricks.   
  
Soujiro gave up his hold on the wall, he just let his legs collapse under him and he sat hard on the floor, cradling his side for all of a second, but the pain was far from his mind. Now all he could see was the memories of his past and the face of this girl, looking at him with more tears in her emerald eyes. Akio inched closer and closer until she was only centimeters from him. She could hear the beating of his heart. He was panting slightly, as if he had just run a mile. His eyes were graying fast now, and she was afraid.  
  
"Don't fall Soujiro," she whispered, reaching out a hand to brush the hair from his face. "Don't fall so fast." He flinched at the contact, pulling away and then looking up at her. Akio jerked back about a foot, as if she had been slapped or burned.   
  
"I've been falling my whole life," he said, almost desperately. "But I hit the bottom two years ago. For two years, Akio, I have been pulling myself out of hell. I can't tell you what happened. You are the only person I have ever met who has treated me like you do. The only person who has gone out of their way to help me like you have. If I tell you everything, you'll hate me." He needed her to understand, it wasn't some idle inconvenience, he sincerely needed her to know that what happened was too dark to forgive. He couldn't even ask her to try.   
  
"No matter what you have done, no matter what Soujiro, I could never hate you." Her voice was sincere and it only bit deeper into his soul, causing all the pain to come burning to the surface. Why did she have to be so understanding? So forgiving before she even knew the crime. "We all have darkness in our past. But the past is done. No one can change what has happened, they can only learn from it and move on."   
  
"But the past haunts me," he said bitterly, looking away from her face. "I can't ever find peace in this world, not with the weight I carry. You don't know the things I've seen. The things I've 'done'." Unintentional tears formed in his eyes, trailing slowly down the side of his face. The years of pain surfaced on him like a fresh wound. But the breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened when he felt Akio slip her arms around him again. His entire body tensed.  
  
"Tell me," she said, laying her cheek against his chest, just above his heart. She was careful not to hurt him as she embraced him again. Akio blushed faintly at her actions, but she wouldn't pull away. She couldn't. "I want to know. Please tell me Soujiro."  
  
Soujiro let out a few shaky breaths. What was she doing to him? Why couldn't he push her away? Why couldn't he just walk away, like he had so many times before. Why...just why? He didn't have the answers, all he had was the girl. She was warm now, but still small, once again in his arms. She pressed herself against him, holding on to him, giving the comfort to him that he had given to her. He felt more tears slide from his eyes. Akio. The name was branded in his mind, it sang to his soul. Akio. Everything he had never had, was never good enough for, never thought he needed. He knew then, feeling her heart beat in the same rhythm as his own. Seta Soujiro, once known as the Tenken, once a member of the Jupongatona under the mighty Lord Shishio, was in love. It didn't even matter that he didn't deserve her, didn't deserve this moment of happiness. It just reminded him of the old phrase about how women often love men unworthy of them. (Women are just like that.)  
  
He wrapped both his arms around her, pulling her closer to him, leaning his head down to rest his forehead against her hair. How he had needed this. A reason to live, a person to protect, someone to love. And even if his fears were realized and once he told her everything she still flinched away, hated the sight of him, he would carry this girl in his heart for the rest of his life.  
  
"It all begins with my family," he began slowly. They sat there like that for hours, Soujiro holding Akio in his arms as he told her everything. He began from his abusive life with the Seta family and how Shishio had first entered his life. He told her about how he had murdered each member of his family because they would have killed him if he had not. And how because of that action, he had locked away every feeling in his heart for ten years. Soujiro spoke softly, crying silent tears the entire time as he whispered to her about the horrors he had committed as the Tenken, as a member of the Jupongatana, at the right hand of Makoto Shishio. And then, he told her about the plan to take over Japan and destroy the Meiji and the interference of the man once known as Battousai the Manslayer. He told her all about the duel that had changed his life forever and made him choose the life of a wanderer for two years. His quest for answers, to understand the reason for all things that happened to him in his life. The real reasons.  
  
"And over the past two years, I've tried to live the way Mr. Himura told me. I try to help people with the skill of my sword instead of hurting them. Whenever I see someone in need, I help them with what I can. It's hard and it's not very rewarding. I'm often cold and hungry, penniless and alone, but with every person I save, a little bit of the pain I feel goes away. I know I will never save enough people to wash the blood from my hands, Akio. The pain I have caused to others will never fully go away, but I try to be a better person then I was. I really try."  
  
"I know you do Soujiro," she whispered, the first words spoken since he began.   
  
"So now you know everything. My past and my present." He sighed, waiting for her to pull away, waiting for her to politely smile. Waiting to see the barely masked fear in her eyes. But she didn't pull away, in fact, she snuggled closer to him. Her arms tighten around his waist.  
  
"You expected me to run, didn't you?" she asked him, looking up to meet his eyes.   
  
"Well, yes, I guess I did," he admitted with a smile. Akio smiled back, and it was real. There was no fear in her eyes. There was only compassion and understanding.  
  
"Taking the life of another person is never easy," she said quietly. "I too, have blood on my hands. I may not have been like you." Akio sighed. "I will not lie Soujiro, I can not even begin to know how you feel with so much weight and pain on your shoulders. But the fact that you feel the pain, that you know the guilt, that says that you know that what you have done is wrong. The fact that you are trying to atone for it says that you are a good person. All I can do for you is say that I could never hate you for what you have done. We all have darkness in our pasts. I can forgive you of your past, if you can forgive me of mine."  
  
"But there is nothing to forgive in your past Akio. You are a victim of the mistakes made by your parents. What happened has been out of your control."  
  
Akio shook her head and smiled sadly. "I have made mistakes that I am not proud of. Decisions made in the mind of a desperate girl who so wanted the approval of a town that she took the lives of ten men on a quest to gain acceptance." He was confused, she felt it. "Last year, in the fall months, Renko Village was attacked by a group of government officials disguised as bandits. They wanted to punish our village for the continuation of our weapons making, even with all the laws passed by the government to outlaw swords and their carriers. They killed eleven of our people on their rampage to destroy the forges and weapons. I had been training nearby when I saw it. I never even hesitated, I just...killed them all." Soujiro tensed, looking down at her with shock. "The villagers feared me then. Before they just ignored me like I was nothing, but now they know that I am dangerous, so they fear me."  
  
"Is that why no one is allowed on the mountain?" he asked, thinking about the guardians.  
  
"Yes. Since then, no one has been allowed into Renko Village. And that is why, the village will eventually die." They remained silent for a time, still holding each other in the midst of these emotional waves. Confessions are hard business.  
  
"Come on," Akio said quietly, leaning away and getting to her feet. She offered him a hand to get up. "I have to change your bandages, and I'm tired." Soujiro nodded and got up.  
  
End of chapter 7. Okay, some of you might think that I'm making them fall in love too fast. Fact of the matter is that I'm trying to portray Akio and Soujiro as victims of what I lovingly refer to as 'first sight melodramatics' or, as you young folks like to say, love at first sight. They fall fast, hard, and deep. Thus starting off my saga, muhahahah! Yes well, don't expect it to be an easy ride though. I am a romantic, yes, but I will quote Shakespeare in 'the course of true love never did run smooth'. All of my love stories are quirky, unlikely, and full of hardships. But I'm a sucker for a happy ending. *wistful sigh* Oh, and for all you Ryu sympathizers, don't get too attached to him! His true colors will be shown soon enough. *evil grin* Okay, please remember to review! I love you guys like Ramen and chocolate! Or even better, chocolate covered Ramen…*drools* Oh, Shout outs!  
  
Brittany67: So do I! I'm really happy that you like my story! LOL. I hope you'll continue reading and reviewing because I sure do like it when everyone does!  
  
pruningshears: I live on Ramen as well, but by choice. Hehe, yes, nothing beats an emotionally scarred teen or a half-demon with a sword! And yes, we all find ourselves in a situation like Akio's, didn't cha know? I'm posting this because my beat hasn't sent me Chapter 12 of Sac or chapter 3 of TB yet. I'm waiting for her to get them to me, so I post this in the meantime. Hope you like the fluff of it. And to your theory, I'll have to deny it. I love Aoshi, he's prolly my favorite Kenshin character after Soujiro, but he's not old enough. Nope, the mystery shall be revealed eventually. I doubt any of you will figure it out! Muhahahaha!  
  
Okay ya'll, please remember to review! Love and Peace!  
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ 


	8. A Hidden Agenda

Readers--Yes yes, short chapter, I know, I know! But still. It's the thought that counts, right? Two words for you, devoted readers, sexual tension. Oh! And evil plots unfold, muhahahah! And before I forget, It's come to my attetion that I have forgotten disclaimers for this story....OH MY!  
  
Disclaimer: Dammit, I don't own Soujiro...but if the Tenken were mine, I'd make him teach me the shakuchi!  
  
Chapter 8: A Hidden Agenda  
  
Midnight. It was a mysterious hour of day even to those who held no sway of the superstitions surrounding the hour. To those who did believe, midnight was the hour of fear and dread. The hour of paranoia and where legend and myth stood sway over rational importance. It was the perfect time of day for those who deviled in shady dealings to delve in the schemes. Midnight was a time when the whole of Renko village was deserted, unless they were someone important. It was an hour when everything and everyone who dwelled in the daylight hours went inside.   
  
Mori Ryu walked down the silent town streets, hands at his side, whistling a tune to himself. He was someone important, if to no one else, then to Mori Ryu himself. His father was the richest man in all of Renko Village, and that was saying something in a village of rather rich craftsmen. Ryu was the heir to his father's great fortune, so it left him feeling extremely confident and well off. Confident enough to even put up with the continuing spurns of his love, Akio. Sure, the glances from the ladies of the village were nice. But he wanted Akio! Her spirit, her fire, her beauty...but most of all, he wanted her because somewhere in his heart, he knew he could never have her.   
  
Ryu himself was an impressive specimen of a man. His eyes were light brown, a ruddy brown color, and his hair jet-black hair was orderly, as the hair of a rich man's son should be. He was broad shouldered and well built, as a man of battle should be. He was strong, and very skilled with a sword. Masters and experts of sword craft had been common in Renko Village, once upon a time. They would sometimes take apprentices from the village itself, or teach while passing through. Ryu used these men to his advantage, learning whatever they could teach and collecting it into a hand-made sword style. He was a seasoned fighter and a cunning strategist, as all leaders should be. It was really no wonder why everyone in the village looked up to him, wanted to be with him or wanted to 'be' him. Mori Ryu was, for lack of a better word, perfect.  
  
But no person can every truly be perfect. And as the wise words say, the most beautiful things are the most deadly. And Ryu was no shortage of deadliness. A spring was hidden behind those light eyes, one that wound tighter and tighter, urging him towards violence and anarchy, urging him towards power. And it was this internal urge that sent him to his father's door one night, years earlier, to discuss a plan to make the Mori family even richer and more powerful then they already were. This plan involved a man named Gama, a government official. And it was to meet with his father and this man that Ryu was going right now.   
  
The abandoned forge on the outskirts of the town was their favorite meeting spot. Lord Mori even employed the use of his three most trusted guardsmen to make sure they were not disturbed. Their plans for the future of this mountain were very important and the actions already set into motion were better left unknown. Ryu knocked on the back entrance to the forge three times before being admitted.  
  
"Ryu, what took you so long?" Lord Mori scolded his son. He and Gama were already seated on the floor of the forge, sipping tea idly. It didn't look as if they had been there long.  
  
"I was preoccupied, Father," Ryu responded, pouring himself some tea and sitting with them.  
  
"You better not have been flouting around with that bastard again," Lord Mori warned, eyeing Ryu with level, liquid eyes.  
  
"No Father, I was in the company of a different young lady this evening," Ryu responded, sipping his tea. "Good evening to you, Lord Gama."  
  
"Good evening," responded the third man. He was rather old, wrinkled skin pulled over a bony face and hands. He was skeletal and spooky to behold. His eyes were huge and black, and his smile would cause even the bravest man to shiver in fear. But despite the appearance of Gama, he was an important government agent, trusted and used. He had also been bought and taken care of by the Mori family for his allegiance and knowledge. A smart man knew with whom to bind himself.  
  
"I'm glad you could get back to us so quickly, what have you?"  
  
"I have good and bad news, young master," Gama replied in his nasally voice. He slurped his tea in a most unattractive way. "First off, everything you instructed of me has been set. The men you hired should reach the village in two days, at sundown."  
  
"And they will be professionals?" Lord Mori interrupted. "Not like the last bunch you gave us. That simpleton of a girl killed all of them in less then an instant. I want good fighting men this time, no screw ups Gama."  
  
Gama bowed his head. "I assure you, Lord Mori, these men are the finest that the streets of Tokyo and Kyoto had to offer. Fighters from the underground. Thieves, cut-throats, mercenaries...all at your command, young master."  
  
"Good," Ryu said approvingly. It had been his planning last fall, that caused the 'government officials' to attack the town. Gama had really bought them from the streets of the cities, given them subtle hints of government officers, and set them loose to rampage. The quiet town became so enraged and so fearful that they banished all non-villagers from setting foot past the borders. Thus beginning the end of Renko Village forever. The only money that came into the town anymore, was the money retrieved by the Mori family, whom were traders instead of craftsmen. While the village grew weak, they grew strong. And when the town finally died, the Mori family would rise from the ashes, rish and powerful, to take control of all the trading between the mountain communities and the larger cities. All of it had been carefully planned by Ryu. But it had been partially thwarted when Akio interceded and killed his men.  
  
But this time, there was no opposition. Fifty men from the cities would attack in two days. And one girl could not hope to kill fifty men alone, armed with only a dull sword. Not even Akio was that skilled, even though she had been trained by expert swordsmen beside him in their childhood. Back when Akio could pass for a boy, she would often follow trainers, learning their wisdom. A few even wished her as their apprentice, but she declined always, to stay on the mountain with her memories. She was a gifted swordswoman, everyone knew it, but not even she could protect the pathetic village from this onslaught.  
  
"You gave all the men their uniforms, correct Gama?" Ryu questioned closely. It would not work unless the cause of the destruction be blamed upon the government.  
  
"Yes, they are all equipped and prepared."  
  
"You said that you had bad news as well," Ryu commented. "Tell me."  
  
"Well, young master, I have kept my ears open, as you have said to do, and I have heard something rather distressing." Ryu motioned for him to continue, but Gama looked flustered. "You are aware of the attempted coup over Japan two years ago, yes? The one that was being ushered by a former manslayer."  
  
"We are very well versed in that," Lord Mori snapped. "Get to the point."  
  
"The manslayers apprentice, a boy by the name of Seta Soujiro the Tenken, is my point. The government has tried its best to keep tabs on this boy since the failed attempted at power. When I left the city, it was reported that he was seen on this mountain, heading toward the village."  
  
"And what does that matter?" the Lord asked. "He's only a boy."  
  
"No, my lord, you misunderstand. He is no mere boy. This is the Tenken, once a member of Jupongatana, seated at the right hand of Makoto Shishio himself. If he so chooses, he could slaughter this entire town!"  
  
"Calm yourself Gama," Ryu said casually. Lord Mori and the treacherous government official turned to him. "The guardians told me that a stranger attempted to get into the village a few days ago. He was carrying only a wooden sword and fit the description of the Tenken."  
  
"And?" Gama pressed.  
  
"He was shot twice in the side and shoulder, then dumped into the river. There's no coming back from that." Ryu calmly sipped his tea, not at all afraid. Gama paled considerably.  
  
"You think that will kill him?" he asked, deadly serious. "He is not merely some mindless bandit. This is Set Soujiro!"  
  
"What does it matter?" the Lord repeated again. "Even if he survived, our plan is already in motion. Besides, what would the Tenken care if we destroy this village and everyone in it?"  
  
"There you go," Akio said with a smile as she finished re-bandaging Soujiro's shoulder. She was seated beside him on her futon, head bowed over his shoulder, intent upon her work. Soujiro was once more bare from the waist up. He shivered a little, muscles taunt and trembling, but she wasn't sure if it was pain, cold, or something else responsible.  
  
"Thank you," Soujiro replied with a smile of his own. Akio ruffled a hand through his hair. It was soft against her palm. She knew, really, that she only wanted an excuse to touch him. Soujiro wasn't one to complain. He had enjoyed the light feeling of her fingers feathering around his wounds, gently on his skin. And now the feeling of her hand stroking his hair.  
  
A place in Akio's heart suddenly began to ache. Soujiro's eyes were so deep and brown, free of all the apprehension and pain and fear from before. They were un-shadowed for the first time since she first met him. Never in all her life had she felt for anyone what she felt for him. But she wouldn't admit to herself that it was love. No, she couldn't do that. It would only hurt more. Akio was not some dreamy little girl. She knew what was to come. In a few short days, Soujiro would be healed enough to travel, and then he would leave. And Akio was not so naive, like her mother had been, to think he would return once he left. He had no reason to come back, not after what the guardians almost did. He had everything to lose, with little to gain. 'Only me,' she thought.  
  
Akio stared at him, memorizing his face, burning it on to her heart forever. He looked back at her, a question in his eyes. Her hand slipped down from his hair and she ran her knuckles gently across the side of his face. His skin was so soft and warm. When she had been holding him before, she drew from his warmth. She had held on to him for all she was worth when he had told her his past. Because, he had been holding her just as tight. Like he couldn't let go or it would destroy him.  
  
His story had been like nothing she had ever heard before. He was the Tenken--the Tenken was in her house! He was sitting on her futon, staring into her eyes. She could still see the unease in the depths of his eyes. He still expected her to run away, to not forgive him. Akio understood him, more then he could ever know. No one had ever forgiven her either, having someone who did was a frightening thing. Frightening, but wonderful. She forgave him, for every misdeed or black action. She forgave him because he could never forgive himself. Akio wasn't appalled or afraid. She had been shocked and saddened, but she'd never turn away from Soujiro, not because of a past he couldn't have changed.  
  
Akio remembered her decision when she had found him, unconscious and bleeding, on the riverbank those few days before. No matter what, she'd swore that she'd help him, that she would take care of him. It was as true now as it was then. No matter what, Akio wanted to take care of him. She wanted to love him, wanted to have him love her back. She wanted his forgiveness as much as she wanted to give him hers. Without really meaning to, Akio leaned forward, green eyes fluttering shut, and pressed her lips to his.  
  
Soujiro froze, not really sure what to do or what was happening. He'd never kissed a woman before, or ever been kissed by one. He didn't have much experience in the area of love. All he really knew was that the girl he was in love with was kissing him, of her own will. And that he liked it. He liked it a lot. Soujiro leaned into her, adding more pressure to their kiss. Akio responded readily, easing her arms around her neck. Soujiro locked his good arm around her waist as a subconscious action, pulling her closer to him until she was fully pressed against him. It was a feeling that sent a jolt through both of them, causing them to break apart. Akio panted as if she had run to the river and back, a deep blush spreading across her face. Soujiro panted as well, a small smile on his lips.  
  
"I...I..." she stuttered, trying to break away from his eyes, but was unable to do so.   
  
"What?" he asked, still smiling, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.  
  
"I've never done that before," she confessed with a shyness that was almost painful. "I've never been kissed before."  
  
"Neither have I," Soujiro assured her. They both laughed a little nervously. Akio snapped out of it first, getting off the bed to fuss with the blankets that made up her bed on the floor. "Why don't you sleep in that other room?" Soujiro asked while watching her.  
  
"That's my grandmother's room," she whispered. "It's not right for me to sleep there."  
  
"Then why don't you sleep on the futon tonight?" he offered kindly. Akio only shook her head.  
  
"No, you're still injured. I'm fine on the floor, really." Soujiro wasn't convinced, and was feeling almost guilty about depriving her of her own futon. It was her house, she shouldn't give up her comfort for him. Akio seemed to sense his objection because she smiled and walked over, kissing him on the forehead. "It's very sweet of you to offer, but I am fine."  
  
"You shouldn't have to," Soujiro protested.  
  
"What else could we do?" she questioned, looking him in the eye. A spark passed between them and the unspoken option shone in both their eyes. Soujiro was the first to look away this time. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Akio dropped to her knees in front of him, resting her elbows on his knees. She waited patiently until he looked at her again. Akio's green eyes were unreadable. "Soujiro, if there is one thing that my mother taught me, it's that there is no forever in this world."  
  
"What do you mean?" he breathed. She leaned forward until her face was only a few inches below his.  
  
"There is only right now. There's never a guarantee for what is to come. All we have is the present, right now." Her eyes welled and her voice became a bit shaky. "Would you be my right now? For whatever hell has past and whatever is to come in the future, would you be with me right now? No promises, no guarantees, just now."  
  
Soujiro swallowed, looking deep into the deep green eyes that stared at him so intently. His throat was too tight, he could never hope to answer her. There was no answer really, no answer beside what he gave. Soujiro leaned down and kissed her with everything in his heart, praying that what he felt could pass from him to her. Akio wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself up closer to him. Silent tears ran from her eyes and mixed with their kiss. Soujiro leaned her back across the futon, and she allowed him to deepen the kiss. There was no need for words that night, what needed to be said, Akio had said already. There was no guarantee for the future, but there was forgiveness for the past. Together, the two fractured people, created one whole being. They had the present, and that had to be enough for now. In the back of her mind, Akio finally understood her mother's decision.  
  
Okay! Here is chapter 8. I've got some shout-outs here for ya! Be prepared, chapter 9 is gonna heat things up, more then the end of this chapter *cough* Oh come on! I didn't detail anything! Stop giving me that look, alright? Just read the shout-outs and stay tuned! Oh, and review of course.  
  
Ya sure: I'm really glad you like my stuff! Keep reading and reviewing, ok? Thanks!  
  
pruningshears: Yeah, I think Soujiro deserves a little happiness, you know? With all the stuff he's gone through, I say, screw you guys! Love conquers all! Woooo! Yes, Aoshi will appear in the next fic. No, Shishio is not her father. You'll see!!! Oh, and draw her! Definitely! I'm all for illustrations, yay!  
  
Ken: So glad you like! I do too, lol. Keep reading and reviewing! Love ya like Ramen, cha!  
  
Kenshin44: Yes, I want to show everyone Soujiro's cuddly side, lol. I'm really glad you like my story. Love you like Ramen too! *gets teary-eyed*  
  
Okay, thanks again for reading everyone. Remember to review!  
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ 


	9. Falling Into Darkness

Readers--Okay, here is where we start getting into the exciting stuff. I think that if I make the next two chapters kinda long, I can end the fic at chapter 10. *nods* So, I'm thinking one more chapter. Enjoy this one!  
  
Disclaimer: *kicks a rock* No, Soujiro isn't mine...*sigh* But Akio is! And she's cool!  
  
Chapter 9: Falling Into Darkness  
  
Mori Ryu sat on the front step of his father's house. It was just dawning now. Ryu had watched the stars slowly blink out, one by one, as he sat alone in the darkness, Gama's words ringing in his mind. 'So what if the Tenken's here?' he thought to himself viciously. 'He can not stop the inevitable. Even if he could, why would he? There is nothing in Renko Village that he would value.'  
  
Yes, that had to be reasoning enough. He had been shot, twice no less. Not many men could survive that, and Mori Ryu didn't care if you were a famous swordsman or not. Getting shot was no picnic, and without help, there was nothing to do but die.   
  
Ryu sighed, getting to his feet and stretching. He decided to go see Akio this morning and see how she was doing. No matter how tough she acted, he knew how much the villagers could hurt her with their stares and words. He had been the same way once, before he had fallen in love with her. Yes, he's go pay his future bride a visit. By sunset tomorrow, the town would be destroyed and his family would rise in power. Life was good.   
  
Akio shifted in her sleep, not wanting to wake, but knowing that she was. She shivered a little and instinctively moved closer to the warmth of the body laying next to her. She snuggled her body against him, resting her head on his shoulder and placed a hand on his chest, feeling the slow rise and fall. Somewhere inside her silently rejoiced that all of it hadn't been just a dream. No guilt, no regrets, just a small fear of what was to come, but no one can live without those fears.  
  
Her pillow shifted when she moved closer, and he began running his fingers through her hair softly. "You awake?" he whispered into her ear.  
  
"No," Akio replied, opening one eye. Soujiro smiled at her and Akio leaned forward to kiss him. Just a quick good morning kiss. "I should get up, but I don't want to," she complained, leaning back down.  
  
"Then don't," Soujiro said, more then happy to have her remain next to him. They just cuddled for a few hours, neither bothered by mild hunger or thirst. It was already deep into the morning when Akio and Soujiro finally got up.   
  
Akio made breakfast, even though by that time it was already lunch, and Soujiro was happily able to walk around better now. The pain in his side was dull to the point that even touching it caused no new pain. His shoulder was almost normal again, only hurting when he tried to move it too fast or lift something heavy. Akio had pulled the stitches out when she changed the bandages once she had made him eat.  
  
"You're going to have a good scar on both spots," she commented with a smile. "But I think you'll be good as new in only a few more days."  
  
"That's good," he seconded. Neither would continue with the statement of what would happen when he was better. It would be dangerous for Soujiro to stay, and Akio didn't have the heart to leave. Where would it leave them? What would become of them?  
  
However, their conversation was interrupted with a rapping at Akio's door. "Akio, are you in there?" a voice called. Akio visibly paled.  
  
"Stay in hear and be quiet," Akio whispered to Soujiro before turning to the entrance room. "Coming!" she called, throwing a worried glance at Soujiro before turning back and rushing to the door. She opened it just enough to slip out, then closed it behind her. "Ryu, what a surprise." There was a distinctively dry tone in her voice and Soujiro smiled to himself.  
  
"How are you? Are you okay...from yesterday, you know. I didn't mean to upset you, but I know that I did and I wanted to apologize." There was genuine remorse in his voice and Soujiro perked up. He got to his feet and silently crept closer to the door, wanting to hear more.   
  
"Ryu, I'm fine, as you can see. Kymo can go to hell where he belongs, but I'll thank you again for your compassion. You've been my only friend in this town for a long time Ryu, you know that. You don't have to apologize for what they think and do." Soujiro detected sadness and a hint of warmth in her once-sharp voice. It began to make this place in him burn with an unknown emotion. Was he...jealous? Because Akio was talking this way with another man? One of the villagers.   
  
  
  
Akio truly did appreciate Ryu's kindness. He had been, in a round-about way, the only friend she ever really had. At least on two legs. If you can call his infatuation a friendship. Yes, he hounded her, ordered her around, and annoyed her quite frequently. But when things like what happened with Kymo, happened...Ryu was the only one who'd stand up for her. The only one to offer compassion and apology. She looked at him with a fond smile, hoping that maybe once, they'd part on good terms today.  
  
"I want to be more then just your friend Akio," Ryu said, stepping forward and taking her hands in his. He looked into her eyes and Akio sighed inwardly. Maybe not. She tugged her hands from his and took a step back, pressing her back against the door.  
  
"You know I'm fond of you Ryu--" she began, but he moved closer, pinning her with his arms on either side of her frame.   
  
"Then why do you always refuse me?" he asked, eyes sparkling with the thrill of the chase.   
  
"Because you're an over-bearing, bossy, spoiled, annoying brat!" Akio snapped at him, pushing both hands on his chest to get him away from her. Ryu was pushed back a few feet, but remained standing--and smirking.  
  
"Trust me, soon you'll be seeing things my way." Akio didn't like that smirk on his face at all, not one bit. She could feel something different about him. It was no longer that innocent puppy-like vibe on him like there used to be. Now there was a more sinister darkness encompassing his body. There was a foreboding feeling on him, one that she didn't like at all. Mori Ryu was up to something, and Akio bet her grandfather's sword that whatever it was, it wasn't good.   
  
Still smiling darkly, Ryu turned away and began his trek back to the town. Akio let out a small sigh of relief as she against the door. That was a little more intense then she would have liked. It made her shiver in memory that for a second, just a split second, Ryu had frightened her.  
  
Her hand found the door and she slid it open, only to back right into Soujiro who had been pressed against the door. Akio yelped as she tripped over him and fell over backwards. Soujiro did the same as he fell flat on his face, then scrambled up and over to Akio.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked her quickly. Akio lay on her back, staring up at him, and she started to laugh. Soujiro blinked down at her as she laughed so hard tears came out of the corners of her emerald eyes.  
  
"You were listening huh?" she asked when she had regain breath, still giggling helplessly.  
  
Soujiro shrugged, knowing he'd been caught, and helped her to her feet. Akio slung an arm around him, and smiled. "I was curious. You said no one came out to your house."  
  
"Just Ryu," Akio said, her smile fading. "He comes out a lot." Soujiro desperately wanted to make her smile again. He wanted to see that sparkle in her eyes.  
  
"Bet you never tripped over him," Soujiro said, a small smile on his face. Akio looked up at him, smiling herself.  
  
"Never have. That is an exclusive first that I bequeath to you, to add among the other list of firsts." Soujiro cocked his head as he looked down at her. She only smiled, closing the door with her foot as she pulled her arms around him to bring his mouth down to hers. Neither noticed they were being watched.  
  
Ryu had been heading back to the town when he had reconsidered his approach. Somehow he had to convince Akio to come to the village with him tomorrow night so that they could escape with his father before the town was demolished. It wouldn't be easy. Akio was just as stubborn as hell, but he would do it even if he had to toss her over his shoulder and carry her there.  
  
He had turned around on his path and went back to her house, just in time to see some one helping her to her feet from where she had apparently fallen. Akio was laughing and then started talking to this person--a male person who was missing a shirt for some reason--but he wasn't close enough to hear the words. They spoke shortly, then Akio closed the door as she kissed this man.  
  
Ryu's blood began to boil as he watched this exchange. The girl he had loved for years, the girl he had been trying to marry for years, was kissing another man? His fists clenched so hard they drew blood, but no pain came to his rage-fogged mind. He wanted to march right up to that house and kill that bastard who was touching Akio. Then he wanted to kill Akio for not touching him! It was unlike anything Ryu had ever felt before, this intense hatred that welled in his already darkened heart.   
  
He would get revenge for this, that was for sure. To hell with warning Akio now, she could burn with the rest of the village. But no, that wasn't good enough. He'd make her suffer for this betrayal, for this abomination made against him. Oh yes, she'd pay. His mind had already began to form an evil plan to hurt this treacherous whore. For years he had defended her from the village, and all along they had been right.   
  
Akio and Soujiro spent the rest of the day in the house. Sometimes they would be in the kitchen, eating something or just talking about nothing in general. Sometimes they'd be in her bedroom, doing 'other' things, but they just laid around together for the most part. Soujiro tried his best to make her smile and keep her that way. Akio did her best to keep Soujiro's eyes clear and dark, un-shadowed and not gray. But neither really had to worry. They were both happy just to be with the other.  
  
Never did they even think about what was coming. Still living by the rules of right now, it felt like they had forever to be together, bathing in the presence of their lover. Neither wanted to think about the future and the mist that hung over it. The disaster looming in front of them was unseen.  
  
It came at near sunset--in the form of Mori Ryu himself. Ryu had returned, knocking on Akio's door and calling for her. "Coming!" Akio called, getting to her feet and struggling back into her clothes. Pulling her shirt on, she leaned over and kissed Soujiro. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Then she left the room, and hurried to the door. Akio smoothed out her ruffled hair and straightened her clothes before opening the door and slipping out. "Ryu, back so soon?"  
  
"Yeah," he looked around and leaned closer to her. "I need to talk to you about something Akio, would you walk with me?" His face looked desperate and almost fearful. Against her better judgment--and thoughts of the man still occupying her bed--Akio reached out and took his offered hand.  
  
"Whatever it is, I'll do what I can." She meant it too and Ryu squeezed her hand with a little smile before leading her from the house and down one of the many garden paths.  
  
When they were far enough away from the house where they couldn't be seen, Ryu dropped her hand. Akio looked at him questioningly and when she met his eyes, she froze. Like before, the look on his face sent nothing but pure terror to her heart. Ryu grabbed her shoulders and rammed her back against the nearest tree. It knocked the breath out of her so that she couldn't even scream. Not that she would have anyway. She coughed.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked fearfully.  
  
"Who is he?" Ryu asked. His dark face mere centimeters from her, his breath hitting her in the face. All of her nerves were screaming in self-preservation. He knew. It was the only explanation. He must have seen them, or at least seen Soujiro. Suddenly her thoughts flew to one ultimate goal. Protect Soujiro. She didn't even think to lie to Ryu.  
  
"He's just a man I found wounded by the river. I took him in," Akio whispered. Ryu's fingers dug into her shoulders painfully and Akio winced. "Please," she whimpered.  
  
"Please?" he echoed. "Please!" Ryu dropped his hands from her shoulders and backed up a pace. Before Akio could do anything, like bolting for home, Ryu's fist shot up and he backhanded her across the face. Akio was caught off guard, and off balance. She fell to all fours, where Ryu proceeded to kick her in the ribs. Akio yelped, and whimpered, curling up around her injured side. "You disgusting whore," he yelled at her. "The village was right, you're just like your mother. I would have given you anything! I offered you the world and you turn around with this...this outsider."  
  
"It wouldn't have mattered," Akio rasped, attempting to get up again. "You could never have given me what I wanted."  
  
"And what's that Akio? Do you even know?" He paced next to her crumpled form, looking down at her like she was a beaten dog.  
  
"I don't love you." Her voice cut into him like a blade. Ryu stopped his movement to look down at her. He met her emerald eyes and saw contempt reflecting his image. "All the money in the world would never make me love you."  
  
"And you love him?" he challenged. Akio looked at him levelly, but didn't answer. The silence was all the answer he needed. Ryu bit back the colorful language he would have lashed at her with. Instead, he spit on her face and turned away, unable to bring himself to look at her any longer. "It doesn't matter. This time tomorrow, nothing will matter. But I guarantee you Akio, you're outsider will be found and killed." Then he stormed off and Akio watched him go.  
  
She sat, frozen and shivering in that spot for a long time after he left. The pain in her ribs was nothing. Even the faint trickle of blood leaking from her nose and the fast-appearing bruise on her face didn't register. All she cared about was the fact that Ryu was going to tell the guardians that Soujiro was in her house.   
  
Akio pulled herself to her feet, formulating a plan in her mind of what to do. She knew that if she just out and told Soujiro, that he'd never leave. He wouldn't abandon her because she was a person in need, in potential danger. In her mind, there was only one way to make sure that Soujiro left, and truly never did return. And it broke her heart to know that if she didn't do it, they would both be killed.  
  
She cried all the way home, but she dried her tears and pulled herself together before re-entering her home. To pull off her plan, she'd have to be strong. She'd have to hold back the pain and the sadness. It was for his life, and she knew that she'd do anything for Soujiro. Anything in her power to do.  
  
"Everything go alright?" he asked when he saw her come back in. He noticed the way she favored her side and he began to worry something might have happened. When she looked up at him, he saw a bruise forming on her face, and a faint stain of blood on her skin. "What happened?" Soujiro questioned, on his feet and at her side in an instant.  
  
She backed away from him, then made her decision that it had to be done, no matter how much it hurt. "I want you to leave," Akio said slowly, her voice low and dangerous.  
  
"What?" Soujiro asked, uncertain he heard her right.  
  
"I said, I want you to leave my house." She looked up at him under a hood of hair. "You're healed enough to travel again. There is no reason to remain. I'll give you what you need. But I want you to leave, tonight."  
  
Soujiro froze when he looked at her. There was such anger in her eyes, but he didn't know if it was really directed at him. He wanted to grab her, ask her what happened, make her tell him, but he was too scared to move. "Why?" he rasped, mouth drier then a desert.  
  
"I told you that nothing lasts forever. It was fun while it lasted, but it has to end. I can see in your eyes that you want to stay, but you can't. I don't want to leave. It's best that you leave now, before we get too attached. It'll only be worse the longer you're here." Her eyes quivered a bit in their resolve and he saw them well, but she blinked it back.   
  
"Akio," he breathed, reaching out a hand to her. She jerked back and his hand dropped.   
  
"Just go, alright? I don't want to look at you anymore!" She turned away and made to leave the room, but she paused at the door to her room, looking back a fraction, ready to deal the final blow. "We've both done a lot of stupid things in our lives, and because of that we don't deserve to be together. You've done just too many things. It's best you just leave now." Then she turned away. "Good bye Soujiro," she whispered, voice nearly inaudible. Then the door shut behind her.  
  
At first, Soujiro couldn't believe it. He was just stunned, frozen where he stood in shock and horror. He wanted to chase her, wanted to yell at her, wanted to beg her. Then he winced at the truth in her words. She no longer wanted him, and he didn't want to hurt her by being there any more. It wasn't worth it. Akio deserved better than him anyway. Heart breaking, Soujiro walked out the door and left the house. He looked back every now and then, hoping to see her coming after him. He listened hard, hoping to hear her call him back. But she didn't come or call. Akio didn't want him, not that he could blame her. The last time he looked up at her house, he stopped.  
  
"Good bye Akio," he whispered, then turned and left into the darkening day. He'd leave the mountain then. He walked at first, than Soujiro walked faster, until he broke into a run down the path, trying to escape the face of the girl in the house. The girl who said that she forgave him, but then said she didn't love him. The girl that stolen from him more than anyone ever had, and anyone ever could. That was the moment, Soujiro decided, when he died.  
  
Akio heard him leave. She snuck out of her room and watched through a crack in the door as he slowly walked away. It felt like someone ripped open her chest and the tears slid down her face. She didn't care about them anymore. She didn't care about anything anymore. Soujiro was gone, but at least he was safe. It was a small comfort.  
  
Akio walked away from the door, the pain in her heart outweighing the pain in her side as she went into her grandmother's room. There was a small wooden desk at the foot of the futon, she sat on it and looked at her hands as they lay in her lap. She was shaking from head to toe.   
  
"Grandmother," she whispered into the quiet. "I did a bad thing." Tears cracked her voice and her vision blurred with tears. "I hope you can forgive me," she continued in her broken whisper, balling her fists. "I did the same thing that Mother did." She began to sob, hugging herself against the horrible pain inside of her. "I fell in love with an outsider. And then I made him leave."  
  
Okay, only one more chapter to go! Then Renegade will be complete, get ready everyone! Please remember to review, yay! Alrighty, shout-out time!  
  
pruningshears: Sure, you can use that it you want. It's patented and copywrited to me though. I use a lot of my own little phrases in my writing, Inuyasha's talk of destiny, Akio's talk of future, and Kagome talks later on about love in Tainted Blood. Anything that sounds corny, but original is mine. Yes, yes, Soujiro needs some lovin' too! And I love Aoshi, he has to appear! Thanks for the review!  
  
Your #1Fan: Catchy name! LOL, I'm actually really perverted (what teenager isn't, right?) but I don't want this fic to be all sexual like some of them are. It's romance, yes, but I don't want it to take away from the rest of the actual story. Thanks for reviewing, feel free to do so again! Thanks for reading too! Arigato! *bows*  
  
Kenshin44: I love how you review a lot! It really makes me happy that you like my story so much, hehe. And I'm glad you like Akio, I put a lot of thought into her character. I post more for you, yay. One more chapter, then a break, then the sequel!  
  
caljay123: Unbelievable, really? I'm happy you like that chapter. Hope you like this one too! Thanks for reviewing and reading! *bows*  
  
Angel: LOL, I'm glad you like it. I tried to make it romantic, so happy you agree! Thanks for reading and reviewing. Love ya like Ramen *nods* yuppers!  
  
Ken: Yup, put 'em together, then tore them apart. Like I said, the course of true love never runs smooth, but take heart for there will be a sequel! LOL, yes Ryu is a bastard. But I can't kill him just yet because he still serves a great purpose. I was so scared everyone would like Ryu too much, I had to make sure everyone knew he was the bad guy! Thanks for the shout-out!   
  
Thanks again everyone! Please remember to review again, and keep reading lol! Don't forget my Inuyasha fics, if you like Inuyasha that is. Anywho, thanks a lot! *waves*  
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ 


	10. All's Fair In Love and War

Readers--Okay people, here we are, the final chapter of Renegade! *cheers* Okay, about last chapter, I know everyone hates me cuz I broke up my main characters, but come on! You all have to know that I'll make them get back together! I just needed a little edge! Bumps in the road! *sigh* Don't hate me! *throws self at your mercy* Please read my sequel!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own him...wish I did...but alas, I do not.   
  
Chapter 10: All's Fair In Love and War  
  
Soujiro had ran for hours, ignoring the burning in his lungs and the pain in his wounds. All that was on his mind was the pain in his heart. 'If I'm dead,' he wondered as he ran. 'Then shouldn't I stop feeling pain? Shouldn't I stop caring?'  
  
But the real question was: could he stop? And the answer to that one was simple: no. No because he had fallen in love and that was something that never went away. Love was something that never died. He had never loved anyone before, and once he got a taste of it, he didn't want to stop. It didn't matter that Akio didn't love him back. It didn't matter that she no longer wanted him. As long as he still loved her, then he could still live on, right? Right?  
  
Soujiro felt the tears falling down his face and looked down, hair shielding his shame from whatever part of the world cared to look on him. No God should have to see such a sight, such a spectacle. His insides were a mess. Half of him was disgusted with himself for allowing this to happen, for 'wanting' it to happen. Another part of him wanted to turn around, march right back into that house, and demand for her to explain why he couldn't stay with her. But the biggest part of him, the one that he was listening to, was the part that thought it was wrong to be angry. So he was miserable instead.  
  
It took Soujiro a while to calm himself down enough to realize that he was lost, without a weapon, and going down a mountain in plain view where he could be ambushed any second. He first cursed his stupidity, something that also tied in to his luck with women, and then went to the side of the road.  
  
It was just his luck that a few minutes after hiding, voices could be heard coming up the mountain path, heading toward Renko Village. Soujiro crouched down in the underbrush, pressing his body down as far as he could go, sorely missing his destroyed weapon. His breath caught in his throat when he saw who the voices had belonged to.  
  
A platoon of men, fifty at least, were marching haphazardly up the path, laughing and joking with one another. They were dirty and roughly clothes. All looked like men from the rougher city streets. They looked out of place in such a rural setting. All of them were equipped with a weapon, and all of them had a pack over their shoulder. Like wayward travelers. The three men in the led stopped near the shrubs not far from Soujiro's hiding place.  
  
"We should stop for rest of the night," one of them said to the others. "We have to rest up for tomorrow."  
  
"Yes," one of the others seconded. "We want the men to be strong and rested when we continue at the next nightfall."  
  
"I'll tell the men to hunker down," the third said as he left the circle to inform the men that they would be resting there until the next afternoon.  
  
"There can't be more then five miles between us and that Renko Village place," the first commented to the second. Soujiro froze, his blood running cold. He focused all of his energy into eavesdropping now.  
  
"I don't think so. We just have to wait until dusk tomorrow before we attack it. If we go to soon, there are supposed to be a group of guardians or something. They carry rifles. The watch switches at dusk, when we hit."  
  
The first man laughed. "Yeah, then we burn the place to the ground and piss in the ashes!" The second joined in his laughter. Soujiro had stopped listening as they continued to talk about what they'd do after they receive payment for the job and retire to their favorite whore houses in the city. All his body was screaming was to turn around and run back up the mountain.  
  
'Akio,' he thought to himself. A vision of her face flashed before his mind's eye and his heart twisted painfully. It didn't matter what she did or did not feel. All that mattered was him being able to save her life. But the men who were to destroy Renko Village had settled in for the night. It was too late for him to make a break up the mountain without being seen. And being seen running away from a camp of would-be killers--that is to say that they weren't killers already--would not be a smart thing for an unarmed swordsman. He had no choice, he had to wait out the night, and pray that he was fast enough to get to Akio before the platoon did.  
  
Akio had cried herself to sleep on her grandmother's old futon. When she blinked awake the next morning, she didn't recognize her surroundings at first, until she remembered what had transpired the night before. All that did was bring a fresh wave of tears to her eyes. God, it hurt. Hurt worse then a shot through the heart. Hurt worse then the beatings the villagers used to give her. Hurt worse then the time she had broken her ankle after falling from a tree while putting a baby bird back in it's nest out in the garden, and she had to crawl home because no one heard her calls. It hurt worse than any mortal wound. That was because her soul was the thing that was hurt.   
  
After the morning wasted away into afternoon, Akio finally pulled herself to her feet. She had to work in the village today, not that it mattered. Ryu and the guardians hadn't come, not that it mattered. She didn't eat anything all day, not that it mattered. She dressed and she brushed her hair. Then she walked out to Takeda's pen.  
  
He greeted her with his usual amount of love and affection. Akio felt her eyes brimming at just the small gesture made to her by a pet. But she had no more tears to cry. They had all been spilt. Akio didn't feel like walking to town alone today, so she placed the rope leader around Tekeda and had him walk with her. She was fearful that the guardians would leap at her and attack the house at any given second, ready to kill her and find Soujiro. But Soujiro was long gone by now and a small part of her rejoiced. At least he was safe from the villagers' wrath, even if she was not.  
  
It became obvious in an instant that Ryu had not told anyone about Soujiro as Akio came into town. No new rumors were being spread, no new looks of fear graced the faces of the men and women she passed. They still spoke of the incident at the restaurant days earlier. Akio didn't know whether she should be wary, or thankful. Either way, she was on her guard.  
  
She passed the forges and the smithies, looking at the new merchandise that was up for sale. That was when something in the window of a shop caught her eye. There, hanging in the window, was a beautifully carved wooden sword. The hilt had been wrapped with leather cloth, to give the handle an excellent grip, and the blade-portion was sanded smooth. It was made of a hard wood, the kind that grew only in the highest portion of the mountains. That kind of wood was said to be as strong as metal, strong enough to break weakened steel. Akio was in love with it.  
  
Tying Tekeda to the waiting post outside the store, she walked right in and up to the sword smith. "I want to by the sword," she said, pointing to the wooden sword she was eyeing.  
  
"But that's only a wooden frame!" the smith objected. "It's not that good of a piece, and it's only a mold for the actual swords."  
  
"I don't care," Akio said. Her voice was not touchy or angry, but rather monotone, like she had not energy for arguments. She just wanted the sword. "I want it anyway. What do you want for it?"  
  
The smith clearly thought she was mad, but he sold it to her for a relatively high price. Akio paid and took the sword with her as she left the sword. She gripped it in her hands, wishing she could have given it to Soujiro before he left. He was weaponless now. It would be all her fault if he were hurt because of her rash desire to do a good deed. Pain bit deep and hard, but Akio wouldn't cry any more. She only strapped the wooden sword to Takeda's side and continued down to the restaurant.  
  
She was stopped before she got there.  
  
The platoon rested long hours into the night and morning. Soujiro had made himself slightly more comfortable on the ground, leaning against a tree to prop himself as he drifted in and out of lucid dreams. He was happy that he didn't snore; Akio had informed him of that. He did however, talk in his sleep. But he didn't fall deep enough as to where the sound of his own voice wouldn't have awakened him.  
  
For the sixth time that day, Soujiro fell back into dreams. The dreams attacked his senses with the smell and sight and taste of blood. Metallic and coppery, it burned his nostrils and tongue. He wanted to scream, but he didn't. A cool hand brushed lightly down his face, the touch calming him. The smell of blood lessened until it vanished. The red in his eyes left a blurry vision of light, and a mussed figure of a person. The blood in his mouth was gone, replaced by a sweet and spicy taste, one that he loved more than anything. He could smell her scent, taste her, hear her voice. Even in his dreams, he could never escape her. But he would rather dream of her than anything else.  
  
Suddenly, a sound from the bushes beyond woke him up. Soujiro shook his head, throwing off the drunken effects of sleep. He pulled himself into a stiff sitting position, looking at the platoon of men as they lazed about. Only they weren't lazing about anymore.  
  
"Alright men, the sun sets in about two hours, we want to get up there as dark falls," the commander said. He hefted his sword and pointed up the path. "Let's move out!"  
  
All the men grumbled and complained, pulling their packs over their shoulders and trudging on up the road toward the town beyond. This was his chance. Soujiro shuffled to his feet silently, and waited until all the men were out of sight and earshot. Then he was up and off like a bang, racing off throw the foliage as fast as his legs could carry him.  
  
His heart was pounding, his mind screaming to move faster. Every second counted when it was Akio's life on the line. He had to save her. He had to do anything within his power to save her, even at the cost of his own life. He would do anything to save her. But sacrifice was not an immediate issue. All he needed to do was warn her.  
  
The small deer tracks the criss-crossed the mountain side were easy to follow. Akio had told him that the deer mark the mountainside better then the humans. He trusted her word and followed the tracks as far as he could, as fast as he could. Soujiro trusted his senses and instincts to guide him. He was in unknown territory and he needed to find his way back to her.  
  
It was then, when least expected, that Soujiro was caught. It brought to mind the old words 'how the proud hath fallen' because love makes a fool out of the best of people. And for Soujiro, his love made him careless and reckless. He had been solely focused on getting to Akio that he neglected to look out for himself.   
  
"Where do you think you're going?" a voice came from beside him. Soujiro skidded to a stop before colliding with two tall, beefy men. Another came up behind him. Without a weapon, there was little Soujiro could do as the three men were upon him.  
  
But Seta Soujiro was not the kind to give up without a fight. He bit, he clawed, he kicked and punched. But the men holding his were bigger and stronger then he was. Soon they had him restrained and on his feet. One pulled his hair so that he head was up, and facing the fourth man of their squad.  
  
"Ah, you must be the outsider!" this man said in glee, his eyes shining sadistically. "Master Ryu told me to find and detain you until he could come kill you himself." This man nodded for emphasis and walked toward Soujiro, grinned menacingly. Suddenly, without warning, he punched Soujrio across the face.   
  
Soujiro spat out a line of blood. "Who are you?" he asked when he head was yanked back up.  
  
"Forgive my manners!" the offender said mockingly. "I am Kymo, of the Renko Village. I'm the one who gave you that--" he said, when punching Soujiro in the side. Just like when Akio had hit him, pain launched through his body. Soujiro bit his bottom lip until it bled, not giving Kymo the satisfaction of hearing him cry out. "No voice? Pity," Kymo said before hitting him again. "Master Ryu wants to hear you scream in agony when he kills you. Just like the little whore."  
  
Suddenly, Soujiro's fogged mind cleared. Ryu...the one Akio had spoken to and of. The one she left with...and when she returned had told him to leave. The bruise on her face, how she was holding her side...Ryu had beaten her. Beaten her for being with him. This is why she told him to leave, so this Ryu person wouldn't get him. Not while he was defenseless. His heart wrenched, finally understanding Akio's motives. It only resolved his determination to find her. He had to find her. He had to warn her about the men coming to attack her village. And he had to tell her something else as well. But the first step was getting away from these men.  
  
Ryu grabbed her from the side, hauling her away from the village street. Akio was too terrified to fight him. Her hand tightened on Tekeda's leader and the deer blindly followed his mistress as she was led away. There were two other men--men Akio did not recognize--following them as they left the town. Akio soon realized her was leading her back to her house.  
  
"Where are we going Ryu?" she asked when her courage had rebounded.   
  
"Home Akio, I'm taking you home," he responded, not looking at her. Akio attempted to pull away only once, but that only caused Ryu's grip to tighten on her arm until it was painful. She shivered as they continued in silence. Tekeda sensed her fear and trotted beside her, nuzzling her neck.   
  
"Why are you doing this Ryu?" she whispered as they were almost to her house.  
  
"Because you should have been with me Akio," he said in return, finally looking her in the eye. "And now I'll make you understand why."  
  
"What are you talking about?" she asked, scared when he released her arm.   
  
"You're outsider is already getting his punishment as we speak," he continued lightly, nodding toward one of the other men.  
  
"What?" Soujiro...  
  
Akio watched as one of the two men walked toward the front of her house and took something from a small bag at his side. She recognized a kerosene lamp. He broke it, then lit it, and tossed it inside. "No!" she screamed, racing to stop the fire. The second man grabbed her from behind.  
  
Akio struggled wildly, thrashing about, and broke free. The man yelped when she had stomped down on his foot. Ryu grabbed her around the waist, stopping her from getting too close. "So it is done," he whispered in her ear. The front of the house was already being eaten away by the fire.  
  
"No! Please! God, no!" Akio screamed and cried. Her house. The only thing in the world she owned, the place that was dearer to her then her own life, was being destroyed before her own eyes. "NO!" Akio shouted with every ounce of her resolve. She ramped her elbow back hard into Ryu's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He loosened his hold just enough for Akio to make a mad dash for the burning house.  
  
"Akio, don't do it! That's suicide!" he yelled after her, but she was inside before he could catch up, and Mori Ryu wouldn't risk his life without a just cause. Akio wasn't good enough any more.  
  
Akio rushed through the entrance room, grabbing her grandfather's sword off the wall and quickly slinging it over her shoulder. The room was filled with flames and smoke. She covered her face with her sleeve as she ran into the kitchen and then to her grandmother's room. The fire was just beginning to crawl in there. There was only enough time to save one more thing.   
  
Akio went to the wooden chest at the foot of the bed. Fire licked at the lid and side. Without a moment's hesitation, Akio kicked the lid of the trunk and it flew open. She got to her hands and knees and drug through the contents until her hands connected with a leather bag. Akio quickly pulled it out and hugged it to her chest. The small sack held everything she had ever had of her father. The dearest thing in the world to her, along with the sword already on her person.  
  
She turned back to the inner rooms of the house, but there were engulfed in flame and smoke. Her room, the entrance room, and the kitchen were gone beyond all help and reckoning. Akio shed bitter tears for the loss of her home. The only home she had ever known. But now was not the time for tears. She had to get out of there, and fast. She looked around for an escape, and zeroed in on a small window in the corner of the room. Taking a running leap, Akio burst through the window and rolled across the ground, coughing madly.  
  
She saw that Ryu and his two thugs were converging on Tekeda. The deer was backing further toward his pen, bucking at them madly, scared of the flames in the house and the absence of his mistress. Akio assumed that the three men thought her dead. This was a good thing.  
  
A high pitched whistle came from Akio's mouth when she pressed two fingers between her lips. Tekeda looked up at his mistress. She was calling from the other side of the house. He would answer. Tekeda bucked once more at the three weird men around him before making a running leap over the smallest one and making a be-line for his mistress. Akio didn't even slow him down as she grabbed the lead rope around his neck and leap on to his back.   
  
The deer ran as fast as an deer could run from danger with a girl on its back. He abandoned trails, preferring the open forest. Akio winced as branches and twigs cut into her face and left welts on her body. But pain was nonexistent. All she knew was that she had to get to Soujiro, and before Ryu. He had to be nearby, there was no other explanation. Her sword was slung over her shoulder, the leather bag with her possessions slung criss-crossed over that. Akio felt around Tekeda's side before she found the wooden sword she had bought that morning. A gift for Soujiro. It was fate.  
  
Soujiro had taken a few more blows, but he was good at taking pain. He had taken pain all his life, and was used to it. Beatings didn't hurt him anymore. All he was thinking about was a plan of escape. But he really didn't need to have thought about one. He knew he needed a distraction, but what?  
  
How about a girl riding into the throng, astride a deer? That's exactly what he got. Akio and Tekeda leapt right into the midst of the fight. Akio blazed like a warrior goddess, pulling a sword from her back and holding a wooden sword in her free hand. She leapt from her mount, knocking the offending Kymo over the head with the wooden sword. He ate dirt, and damn hard too.  
  
Soujiro took the distraction as an opportunity of escape. He stamped on the foot of his stunned captor, then elbowed the other. The third was tripped and clobbered by Akio. "Soujiro, here!" she called, tossing him the wooden sword. Soujiro caught it with ease, loving the feel of it in his hands. "Take them down!" she called as her own opponent began to rise again.  
  
Soujiro did just that. He hopped from one foot to another for a few seconds, then blasted forward with such speed, that in the span of an eyeblink, both of his opponents were down for the count, bleeding from wounds to the head and chest. There weren't dead, but he messed them up something awful.  
  
He turned to see Akio pull a stunning maneuver, knocking her opponent from his feet, then knocking him out with the butt of her hilt. He fell to the ground in a heap. Akio panted, wiping her brow with her sleeve. She was smudged with black soot, her clothes looked singed. She looked exhausted and he saw her body trembling. But she met his gaze, her green eyes sparkling.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"Are you?" he countered. She gave him a brilliant smile, the smile he feared he might never seen again. The wooden sword was dropped and forgotten as she ran at him, grabbing the front of his shirt and holding on for dear life.  
  
"I didn't want to do it!" she said desperately. "Ryu hit me and said that he'd kill you if he ever found you."  
  
"Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked, circling his arms around her.  
  
"Yeah right. If I came out and said 'Soujiro, my friend is going to kill you so you'd better run away', would you have left?" Soujiro smiled and shook his head. "I didn't think so," she responded, then pulled him down and kissed him firmly on the mouth. Soujiro was only too happy to reply with a kiss of his own. And all was right with the world, for a split second. Then Soujiro pulled away.  
  
"There is a patrol of at least fifty men coming up the road. They're going to attack the village!" Akio paled and stared at him. She remembered something Ryu had told her. 'After tomorrow, nothing will matter anymore.'  
  
"Oh God," she whispered, a hand covering her mouth. "Ryu's going to destroy the village. We have to stop him!" Soujiro took her hand in his, picking up his new wooden sword and tucking it into his belt line.  
  
"We'd better go then." She nodded, and they raced off together.   
  
When they neared the trekking band of pillagers, Soujiro signaled for Akio to stop and they hid in the bushes to watch...and wait. There was really nothing else they could do until they came up with a better plan of action. Two against fifty was not good odds, even if they were both highly skilled. Soujiro was still not at his best, and Akio could only do so much. The men walked slowly, sluggishly, obviously not in any kind of hurry. They joked amongst themselves, talking about looting and women. Akio shivered.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll stop them," Soujiro whispered reassuringly to her. She looked back up at him, green eyes full of gratitude, but then filling with dismay. She reached up and trailed her always-cold fingers down the side of his rapidly bruising face. His bottom lip had been bloodied, along with his nose, both of which had stopped bleeding, but were caked with the dry, red liquid. He looked a mess, but not in much pain.  
  
"I'm sorry," she whispered with remorse. Soujiro caught her hand and kissed the palm. Then he gave her his most charming smile.  
  
"You didn't hit me, but I'm sure you would have bruised me worse if it had been you." She covered her mouth to stop the laugh. Her eyes gave thanks and Soujiro felt suddenly better. "We could warn the guardians," he suggested. "Even if it's only a few against them, your people are very skilled."  
  
Akio shook her head. "They'd never believe me, and Ryu has probably turned many of them. Whatever we do, we have to do it alone." This was not a good thing. Both of them darkened, deep in thought. "I could raise the alarm in the town," Akio said after a pause. "Suika would believe me. And what she says goes."  
  
"Then you better go do it," Soujiro said, nodding for her to slip off.  
  
"What about you?" she asked, readying to back into the forest once more, like a phantom tree dweller.   
  
"I'll stall them as long as I can," he told her with a smile. Akio bit her bottom lip. She looked ready to protest, but knew there was no lother way. She leaned forward just enough to give him a quick, hard kiss, but was mindful of his hurt lip.  
  
"If you die, I'll kill you," she threatened, her mouth a breath away from his and her emerald eyes burning with seriousness.  
  
"You can be quite scary," Soujiro teased. Akio grinned, then disappeared. Now he was alone, against a troop of fifty men. 'How do I get myself into these situations?' he thought sadly, but took up his wooden sword and followed the platoon's movements in silence.  
  
Akio raced down a deer track, but knew that she needed to get there faster then she ever could run. Takeda had run off when the battle broke out with Soujiro's capture. She only prayed that he was close enough to hear her. Akio whistled loudly, as she had done before, still racing down the path to the village. There was the sound of trampling foliage to her left, and she looked to see Tekeda racing alongside her. Akio thanked her lucky star as she swung on to his back.  
  
"Come on baby, we have to get to the village, and fast!" The buck seemed to understand every word because he ran faster then any deer had ever run on the mountain, lame as he was.   
  
In a fraction of the time it would have taken her to run, Akio reached the village astride Tekeda. She jumped off of him, stumbled, then took off like a shot toward the restaurant. "Mistress Suika!" she yelled when she entered, staggering inside. The woman was behind the counter, but seeing the frantic look on Akio's face, came to her side.  
  
"Akio, what's the matter? What happened?"  
  
"Oh Mistress Suika!" Akio cried, grabbing the woman's arm tightly. "The village is under attack! I saw them, fifty men are heading toward the village this very moment! All of them are carrying weapons. They'll be upon us by sundown." Suika paled at her employee's words.  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked, grasping Akio by the shoulders. "You have to be sure."  
  
"I'm positive! I saw them with my own eyes! Please, you have to call up the alarm, we have to warn the village!" Suika nodded, rushing toward the door. Outside of the entrance there hung a large bell. Suika grabbed the wooden spoon from her belt and whacked it against the large bell at a frantic pace. People from all over the village poked their heads out from shops and houses, looking toward the woman ringing the bell.  
  
"Suika? Are you mad girl? What's the matter?" a few of the villagers yelled, coming to investigate.  
  
"The village is under attack. Men from down the mountain are coming, armed to the teeth. They'll be at the village by sundown, we must evacuate!"  
  
"Says who?" asked a haughty voice. Lord Mori passed through the crowd, coming to stand in front of the younger, and taller, woman. Suika's grip tightened on her wooden spoon. There was bad blood between the Mori family and Suika's.   
  
"I do," Suika said, matching his tone. "A witness of the men told me. If we don't leave now, we'll all be killed!"  
  
"That's a lie," Lord Mori denied. He stomped his cane on the ground, causing a few people to jump.  
  
"I tell no lies," Suika yelled, looking to the villagers. "You all know me. I never lie, especially when it's important. Please, we must escape!"  
  
"What is the meaning of this Suika? Have you no proof to back up your claim?"  
  
"I need no proof!" she cried desperately. "There is not time!"  
  
"It doesn't matter, mistress," Akio said, stepping outside. "Lord Mori knows all about the platoon that will attack us. It was Ryu who hired them." This sent murmurs through the surrounding crowd, all of them looking from the two women back to the old man.  
  
"You lying little bastard! What proof do you have?"  
  
"The proof that he destroyed my home!" Akio screamed at him. "My house was burnt to the ground before my eyes and Ryu tried to kill me! Believe what you want about me, but know that if we don't leave this place as fast as we can we'll all die." With that she turned from the group and started running back toward the forest. "Suika, please get them out!"  
  
"Be careful Akio!" Suika called after her. Then she rounded on the crowd. "You heard the girl. I know what you all think of her, and I know what you all think of me, but she would not lie when there are lives on the line. And neither do I. Stay if you want, then you can die, but I for one, want to live!" With that Suika went back into her restaurant, immerging a few moments later with a small satchel over her shoulder. Without a word, she promptly turned on her heel and marched away. Many other villagers scrambled to do the same. Lord Mori was in an uproar, but he could do nothing to stop them.  
  
Soujiro had finally come up with a plan. As he watched them, he noticed that the men on the move had little idea of where they were going, only their destination. Renko Village. None of them had ever been there. So all they knew was to follow the road and the signs, just like he had. But there was a turn, half a mile ahead of them, that would take them to Akio's bridge, or straight to the village. If he could change the sign, he could detour the platoon long enough for Akio to evacuate the village.  
  
Scurrying like the best rabbit or squirrel, Soujiro surged through the trees and came to the marker a few minutes ahead of the others. A quick as he could, he moved the wooden arrow marker to point in the opposite direction from Renko Village. The sign told them now to cross the bridge.  
  
He let out a small sigh. Hopefully that would be enough for right now. He was caught off guard by a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and whirled around to see Akio behind him. "What did you do?" she asked, looking from him to the sign.  
  
"If they go the other way, it should be enough time for the village to escape, wouldn't it?"  
  
"I suppose," she mused. "But the path past my home leads no where, wouldn't they notice they were going in the wrong direction?"  
  
"None of them know where the village is. They'll all from the city, they have no idea."  
  
"But what about Ryu? Surely he will come to them for the attack."  
  
"I don't know," Soujiro admitted. But they were interrupted by voices from around the ridge. Soujiro grabbed Akio and pulled her off the road with him, pressing her and himself against the nearest tree. They both held their breath as the men came up and read Soujiro's 'improved' sign.  
  
"Alright, this way men!" the leader said, pointing in the direction of the bridge. All the men followed, leaving the real track. Both people in hiding let out a sigh of relief as the last person passed them.   
  
"That was close," Akio whispered into Soujiro's ear.  
  
"Tell me about it," he responded, backing away from the tree, but still having his arm around her. "What do we do now?" Akio darkened.  
  
"Now, I find Ryu."  
  
Mori Ryu had had the perfect plan. But now everything was slipping through his fingers. First had been his plan of action, to take control of the village by means of force, and then blaming it upon the government. Everyone hated the government anyway. But it had been foiled by Akio, when she had attempted heroic actions and killed his men. Then Akio, the beauty herself, had fallen in love with another man instead of him. It wasn't right, it wasn't 'fair'! And now, now his perfectly engineered plan of action to destroy Renko Village once and for all, and to reap the benefits of it's demise, were lost. The village was deserted, evacuated by some unknown personage for some unknown reason.  
  
When he had found his father, Lord Mori had said that Akio had come to Suika with news about the attack, and then Suika had convinced the rest of the village to leave. Even when Ryu had bit his dagger deep and hard into his father's chest, it didn't take away the biting disappointment of failure. Even as he watched the old man slowly die in a pool of his own blood. All that he felt the was anger rising at Akio, who had for the third time, gone against him.  
  
His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, the one slung to his hip. His hired force still hadn't arrived, but even if they got here, it would be of no use. His plan was ruined. It had to be Akio, there was no other explanation for it. When he found her...the pain he would inflict upon her...he'd kill her with his own hands.  
  
It seemed that the Gods were on his side, because just as he was thinking that, the girl in question was seen walking calmly down the empty street of the village. Her head was high, her grandfather's sword drawn in her hand. She was picturesque and serene as she came toward him. Alone.  
  
"Ryu," she said evenly. "We have unfinished business."  
  
Ryu's hand tightened on his sword. "Yes, we do," he replied in a voice dripping with anger and disdain. "I hope you know that I mean to kill you Akio."  
  
"I hope you know that I mean the same, Ryu."  
  
That said, their duel began. Ryu rushed her, hoping to use the sheer size of his body and power in his frame against the smaller female. Akio proved to be far more cunning then he had expected, slipping away from him at the last second, rolling to the ground and getting up in time to place a kick square in his back. Ryu went face first into the ground, but he quickly rolled on to his back and flipped up to his feet. They circled each other warily.  
  
"How could you Ryu?" Akio asked. "Your own people!"  
  
"All is fair in love and war, my dear," he said simply, thrusting forward and back, causing her to jump over the blade and land awkwardly. Ryu used this moment to knock her down, preparing to stab her in the side. Akio predicted this maneuver. She quickly moved her sword to knock his blade away, it coming down harmlessly wide of her chest. Then she brought a leg around to connect with the side of his face.  
  
Ryu stumbled back, but then the two combatants became locked in a deadly battle of slashes and wild movements. Ryu was stronger, but Akio was faster. Her hits were not strong enough to bring him down, but a slash here, a shallow cut there, was bleeding Ryu out. He had only managed to slice her cheek open, and stab shallowly in her thigh. Akio had the advantage.  
  
The blood loss was beginning to make him dizzy. A good swordsman was one who knew his limits, and understood the difference between a time to fight and a time to retreat. Ryu made a final blow at Akio, forcing her to back up a few steps. He couldn't kill her now, so he turned to escape.  
  
Only to come face to face with the mysterious man who he had seen in Akio's house. He was smaller, but the glint in his gray eyes was enough to make even Ryu afraid. The wooden sword in his hand was menacing. "I do believe that the lady isn't done yet," he commented lightly, smiling.  
  
"I don't believe you've met Soujiro," Akio said from behind him. "The Tenken really is overprotective, don't you think?" Soujiro moved his sword in a small gesture, signally Ryu to go back and fight Akio. He turned, ready to face the woman taking yet another stance meant for death. "I want to end this," she growled, leveling her blade. "I'm sorry for what you are Ryu, and I hope your soul finds peace."  
  
With those final words, Akio charged forward. Ryu parried the blow meant for his heart, but Akio swung around faster then he could dodge, and buried her blade up to the hilt in his stomach. Ryu coughed, a faint blood film coating his lips. Akio pulled her sword from his flesh with a sickening sound. Ryu pressed his hand to his stomach, then brought up his fingers to see the blood that coated them. She'd stabbed him. He fell to his knees, looking up at the girl with the green eyes, then he fell forward on the ground in a rapidly growing pool of blood.  
  
  
  
Akio washed her sword off on the riverbed. Soujiro was up by where he house had once stood, shifting through anything that could be saved. She wasn't hopeful. She had everything savable with her. Her bag, and her sword. Akio said cross-legged on the back, running a lazy hand in the water.   
  
Tekeda was gone. She hoped that wherever he had run off to, it was a better place then here. She wished him happiness and a long life, the same she knew he'd wish for her. She looked at her hand in the water. The hand that had ended the life of Mori Ryu, her one-time friend. The blood of Ryu would never fully wash away, she knew that. But she wasn't sorry for what she had done. He would have only killed again. And although no one had the right to take the life of another, she wanted to protect the lives of the people who had always hated and shunned her. Maybe they didn't deserve her rescue, but she knew that they did.  
  
Soujiro came up behind her, sitting next to her on the bank. He didn't need words, she could feel the question emanating from him. Are you okay? She leaned against him, her forehead resting on his chest so that she didn't have to meet his eyes. His arms came up around her, holding her close. She had lost everything she once held dear. Her home, her place, her friend...all of it was gone and never coming back. And yet, she had found some things that were worth so much more. She had found Soujiro, the love of a person she had never had before, and she had found a way to forgive herself through forgiving him. Maybe one day he could forgive himself, and she'd be there to watch that.  
  
"Soujiro," she whispered.  
  
"Yes Akio?"  
  
"I no longer have a home," she began, leaning back to look into his eyes. "I no longer have a place." He nodded, sorrow in his features. "Would it be alright...could I wander with you?"  
  
He was taken back by the question, but then ease filled his features. Soujiro tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I would be honored to have your company." Akio leaned forward more, wrapping her arms around him.  
  
"If you had said no, I would have kicked you," she smiled. Soujiro laughed into her ear.  
  
"Like I could refuse you anything." He took a deep breath, then whispered, "I love you Akio."  
  
Akio sighed and smiled. It was strange, but she had known it all along. Every look he gave her, every kiss, and every movement had told the truth long ago. She only leaned into him more. "I love you too," she returned, feeling him relax. She would have to work on him trusting more, or at least trusting her. But they had all the time in the world. "So where shall we go?"  
  
"Anywhere," he replied, getting to his feet and pulling her with him. "We have nothing holding us down."  
  
Akio smiled shyly. "I guess I can finally start looking for my father then." Soujiro looked interested.  
  
"You were able to save those clues?" She nodded, patting the small leather bag.   
  
"Everything I have of him is in here." Akio reached in a hand and pulled out a few things. One was a folded piece of paper that she handed to him. "My mother drew him. Handsome, isn't he?" she prodded as he opened the paper. It was a charcoal drawing of a young man with short black hair and a red band around his forehead, the same red band that was in Akio's hand. Seeing his eyes shot from the page to the band, she tied it around her own forehead. "It was a mark of his army. He left this one with my mother, so now it's mine. If I can find the army members who wore the band, they might know who my father was."  
  
Soujiro nodded, looking again at the drawing. He saw similarities between the man's features and that of Akio's. The eyes were the same, and although he could not tell the color from the drawing, he bet they had been green like hers. "Well, we'll just have to look as we go."  
  
Akio grinned and took the paper back from him, tucking it away in her small bag with a few other priceless treasures. On her shoulder, she sheathed her sword again. Soujiro's own wooden sword was tucked into his belt line. Akio took one last look at the river, he beloved river, before picking a small flower from the bed and tossing it into the water. She whispered a small prayer as she watched it float away, a prayer to her grandmother and mother. Then, taking Soujiro's hand in her own, Akio left all she had known for a new life. The mountain, Renko Village, and all who called it home, were now of the past. Only a memory.  
  
Seta Akio had been reborn.  
  
~~The End~~  
  
Well, that's it! Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed this fic, I love you all! You gave me the confidence to finish this story in record breaking time! I know it's kind of short, but the sequel will be coming. Keep an eye out for Wanderers, which is what I'm calling it.   
  
Special Thanks to:  
  
Pen D. Fox  
  
pruningshears  
  
Curlsofserenity  
  
EEevee  
  
Kenshin44  
  
Hoshii-sama  
  
Brittany67  
  
ya sure  
  
Ken  
  
Your #1 Fan  
  
caljay123  
  
Angel  
  
and, last but not least, WAHHH!!  
  
For your reviews, this story is all for you guys! Well, I hope to see all of you reviewing the sequel or my other works, thanks again!  
  
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~ 


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